Requiem For The Dead
by Fate-Time21
Summary: 2019. Alcoholic 32-year old Shirou is on vacation, returning to Fuyuki City after leaving for thirteen years. Upon his return, our unlucky Emiya gets caught up in a mass zombie outbreak that strikes Fuyuki City. Now, with his vacation cut short, he's back on the job with no choice but to fix the whole mess. However, he discovers he's in more than he bargained for.. (Shirouface A/U)
1. Beginning

"Sir. The flight has landed."

The redheaded man woke to a flight attendant looking down at him. His dull, golden-colored eyes were weary, and as he came to recognize his surroundings, he yawned. His hair was styled in a classic quiff, while he wore a nice, crisp, navy blue suit and a red tie.

He was a tired man, not because of the long flight to Japan, but because of his life. Granted, he would not complain. He knew it didn't do anyone any good. It was what had inevitably would become of him. He knew as much after the Fifth Fuyuki Grail War.

"Oh, right," Shirou Emiya sighed, "thanks."

He stood up, finding he was the last one on the plane. With a sigh, he took his bags from the upper compartment and walked out. He rolled his suitcase into Fuyuki International Airport, whistling a tune familiar to him.

He glanced around at the airport, wondering how the city had changed ever since he left. The airport was filled with busy people, a lively atmosphere to the area. He looked out the windows to see the bright sun and dozens of planes landing and ready to take off. He had a faint smile on his face before he continued on his way.

He eventually scrolled to baggage claim, patiently waiting for the rest of his stuff. He hadn't been to Japan in nearly eight years, and the last time was only because he had personal business to conduct. It was odd returning to his country of birth. It felt somewhat awkward, actually, returning to Fuyuki City.

He looked up at a nearby electronic calendar on the wall. June 1, 2019. It was roughly 4 in the afternoon. The 32-year old Shirou Emiya eventually found his bags, and the moment he got them, he got a tap on the shoulder. If it wasn't for the voice accompanied with the tap, he probably would've reacted defensively.

"Fuji-nee...you know I don't like that," Shirou sighed as he turned around. Even though she was nearing the age of forty, Taigā Fujimura was as lively as ever.

"Come on now, Shirou!" Taigā laughed, "have a smile on your face every once and a while! Here, I'll take one of your bags."

Shirou only sighed as he followed her out of the airport. It was still early morning, and as he got into the passenger seat of Taigā's car, he frowned. Fuyuki City was the same as always. Yet, he didn't like being back home.

* * *

"You haven't visited in over thirteen years, Shirou!" Taigā said with a pout as they drove, "ever since you were caught up in that war, no one saw you for years!"

"I was busy, Fuji-nee," Shirou chuckled, "you know how horrible the war was for everyone. The country was nearly overrun."

"I guess, but that doesn't give you the excuse to just not visit!" Taigā retorted, "didn't your military service ended in 2011?"

"I was...I was caught up in other things," Shirou replied sheepishly.

"Right...didn't you say you were looking to become a Hero of Justice? What happened to that?" Taigā asked, "you look more dead on the inside than usual."

"Time changes," Shirou sighed deeply.

"Don't give me that excuse," Taigā frowned, "The Shirou I knew didn't give up on the dream so easily. I actually miss that side of you."

"I really don't," Shirou said softly, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

He looked out the window as they drove into the heart of the city. He still saw buildings in disarray, but also land developments throughout the city as an indicator that the old was to be swept out with the new.

"The city has changed since I last saw it," Shirou chuckled quietly.

"Much is still the same," Taigā sighed, "but the war did bring a lot of baggage."

"I suppose it did," Shirou nodded.

"Must you always carry a gun?" Taigā asked as she noticed his holster, "Fuyuki isn't that dangerous."

"It calms my nerves," Shirou replied. Taigā frowned at his response.

"You know, I've noticed you haven't talked much like you used to," Taigā remarked, "was the war really that bad on your psyche?"

Shirou stayed silent, giving Taigā her answer. The English teacher sighed, saddened that her former student was almost a shell of his former self.

"I'd...I'd like to visit Tohsaka, before we return," Shirou stated softly, "and Sakura too."

"Of course," Taigā nodded solemnly, "of course."

* * *

Shirou placed a few roses down at the two tombstones. He had a frown on his face as he stood up. He thought it was nice that the two sisters had been able to be buried next to each other, despite dying in different locations.

The cemetery was quiet and mostly vacant, with only he and Taigā there. The warm summer breeze swept through the area, leaving a gentle feeling on Shirou's face. He wondered how life would've been if he still had Rin's guidance, as well as Sakura's gentle kindness. Unfortunately, it made no sense to think such a thing. The past is the past. It had been years since their deaths.

"I think Sakura would've made a good housewife," Taigā remarked.

"You always say that," Shirou sighed softly.

"But am I wrong?" Taigā laughed. Shirou only shrugged. "Though...I never really did know what happened to Sakura. I just got the news she died one day, remember that?"

Shirou visibly winced at the mention of it, a grimace plastered on his face. His hand slightly trembled as some of the light in his eyes dulled. Even so, one could still find sadness, anger, self-loathing and...remorse, in those eyes.

"Yeah," Shirou said dryly, "I was there for her funeral in Kyoto before she was buried here."

"Strange," Taigā murmured.

Rin had died in London back in 2008, due to implications with brain cancer. He remembered visiting her on her death bed. It was heartbreaking to see the proud Tohsaka Rin in such a condition. Out of all of the things that could've killed her, it was one of the common diseases known to man. The world was cruel, he thought. However, that simply was life. He had learned the hard way that just about anything could happen.

"Come on," Shirou finally said, "let's get back home."

* * *

The sound of a knife hitting the cutting board was heard throughout the Emiya household. Ever since he had moved out, Taigā had moved in. She somehow kept the house in a clean condition, despite her nature.

Shirou managed to retain his pristine cooking skills over the years, and heavily improved upon them from his travels around the world. Every movement was swift and with precision. His rolled-up sleeves revealed strong arms, while he also had calloused hands from years of labor.

He was cooking Chinese tonight. He drank his glass of bourbon in one down before he began washing the vegetables with water. It would take at least twenty minutes for all of the food to be ready.

"These new reports are getting outlandish by the day," Taigā sighed from the dining room. Shirou glanced to see the television. "Can you believe that? They're saying people are running into police stations saying they've seen the undead or something!"

Shirou visibly frowned. While it was outlandish to her, in his line of work, he knew it was possible trouble. He finished up dinner, bringing it over to the table. He looked at the news reporter on the TV. He didn't like the sound of terrified civilians screaming about people rising back from the dead.

"Oho! This is delicious, Shirou!" Taigā said proudly, "I've missed your cooking! You have any idea how hard it is to actually cook for yourself!?"

"Fuji-nee, that's just called being an adult," Shirou deadpanned. Taigā only waved it off.

"So! Tell me about your line of work," Taigā nudged, "is it exciting? Exhilarating? Do you get lots of money?"

"I just hunt down criminals, Fuji-nee, nothing more," Shirou chuckled softly, "someone has to be out there protecting innocent people."

"Is it like some spy business?" Taigā guessed.

"No, I'm not like that anymore," Shirou shook his head, "it's...I'm just a federal agent. I take down criminals anyway I can. Whether it be terrorists or serial killers, I'm there. What about you? How's the teacher life going for you?"

"Tiresome," Taigā groaned dramatically, "the workload increases every year!"

"Ah, the Japanese and their workaholic nature," Shirou laughed, "you should take some time off if it gets too hard."

"You make it sound easy, Shirou, I don't live in a country with company insurance and a pension," Taigā deadpanned.

"I don't think the federal government counts as a company," Shirou said jokingly as he poured himself another glass of bourbon. Taigā frowned as he closed the cap on the bottle.

"That's your sixth glass, how are you not drunk yet?" Taigā wondered.

"It's only 50% alcohol," Shirou shrugged, "nothing too much."

"Nothing too much!?" Taigā exclaimed, "has my Shirou become an alcoholic!?"

"I wouldn't call myself that-"

"What other drinks did you bring!?"

"Oh, vodka, more bourbon, some Scottish whiskey, two bottles of rum and gin. Oh, and cognac," Shirou stated. Taigā facepalmed. What happened in the past thirteen years!? "If it helps, I brought milk."

"No, it doesn't!" Taigā yelled, slamming her hand on the table. The redheaded man didn't look fazed. Shirou gave her a wry smile.

"Fine," Shirou sighed, "I'm a functioning alcoholic. I haven't killed anyone yet from being drunk, isn't that a good thing?"

Taigā's expression softened as she looked at her former student. She could see a deep sense of pain and weariness throughout his entire being, as well as a perpetual sadness in his eyes.

She remembered he still had a bit of liveliness to him when he was still living in Japan. Now, he only talked when needed, brooded, and tended to stare off into the distance. She looked at his arms, his rolled up sleeves revealing scars, yet his left arm was covered in what seemed to be Nordic tattoos, while she noticed his right arm seemed to have chains seared into them, though it must've been her imagination.

She did miss his messy auburn hair. His hair color had shifted towards a shade lighter and was always styled. His eyes had shifted toward a more defined golden color, compared to his usual golden-brown. He had grown more than a foot since she last saw him, and he had gained a considerable amount of muscle. He was a bit of a late-bloomer, she supposed, as she noticed he had recently shaved, the remnants of a beard shaved away.

"You're not going to eat?" Taigā asked softly.

"Already ate beforehand," Shirou waved it off. Taigā's lips pressed together in slight annoyance and frustration.

"Shirou...I know you're a federal agent, but have you ever killed anyone in your line of work?" Taigā asked slowly.

"All the time, even before I became an agent," Shirou said bluntly as if it was nothing special.

Taigā's mind did a good 180. The Shirou she remembered would be appalled at even the mention of murder. Hell, he'd even lambast such a thing. He loved the preservation of life. What happened? She had lost her appetite and set down her utensils.

"It's nothing personal, Fuji-nee," Shirou sighed, "it's strictly business."

"Business? To murder someone is business?" Taigā questioned.

"Everything is business as long as you can make a profit or get something out of it," Shirou said nonchalantly, "my line of work just so happens to be good business."

Taigā only gave him a skeptical look as he took her plates and headed to the kitchen to clean. He hummed another tune familiar to him as he did, before drying off his hands and squirting a good amount of hand sanitizer.

"Sakura would've said different," Taigā remarked.

"Sakura is dead, so it makes no sense for you to bring the dead into this," Shirou replied stoically.

"I always thought you wanted to save people," Taigā stated.

"I still do, I've just accepted that dying is a natural process of life," Shirou sighed, "you were far away from the worst of the war, Fuji-nee. You didn't see what I saw." He turned towards her with a hard look on his face. "At least Hell punishes the damned. War punishes everyone."

A heavy silence etched across the room. Taigā felt tense, while Shirou seemed stoic about the whole thing. It was if, to her, whatever she thought of him Shirou really didn't give a damn.

"And your wife?" Taigā asked quietly. Though his face didn't change, she saw his body stiffen slightly. She recalled him sending her a postcard of his wedding years ago. Perhaps her death affected him more than she had originally thought. "What would she say?"

He instead said nothing. He began to leave. He gave Taigā a wave, before he retreated to his sleeping quarters, leaving his former teacher to wonder what had happened ever since he left Japan for good in 2006. She frowned. He had been drafted during the Great War, into the JSDF.

She knew only a few details through her connections, but she recalled he had been recruited by another ally of Japan during the war and joined their military force instead. It had been a good solid thirteen years since he left Japan.

She had heard rumors here and there. Yet, she only ever truly knew the Shirou she saw now was not the Shirou she knew before. He was much more mature, weary, and he had a level of pain laced in with his cynical nature. He was a war veteran, that much was obvious, but she doubted it was just the war that messed him up.

She noticed he had left his plane ticket on the counter. She took a glance at it, and her eyes widened in slight surprise.

Why did he fly from Los Angeles? Last time she checked, he lived nowhere close to there.

* * *

In the middle of the night, when Taigā has fallen asleep, Shirou walked to the courtyard, the warm summer night breeze flowing through his hair. He was on Japan for his own personal business, of course. It was rare for a man like him to relax and have a full vacation. His boss worried about him too much, he thought.

Shirou walked to the shed where it all began. He sighed as he looked at the faded remains of the magical circle that summoned Saber. He frowned at the thought of her. Didn't he promise her one day he'd see her again? He supposed broken promises were just apart of his resume. Even so, he could never forget nor will he ever, for even if it had been fifteen years since that war, she held a special place in his heart.

He supposed he brooded too much. His colleagues said as much. He was rather cynical. His wife used to say as much when she first met him. Was this what the kids nowadays call _edgy_? Perhaps. As he walked to the courtyard, he could proudly say to himself he was manlier than Archer. That's good enough.

He walked further into the shed, stopping at the very end. He had taken Kiritsugu's notes before he left Japan, for he'd rather not have fools bastardized the man's knowledge for their own gain. When the Mage's Association discovered he was in the possession of a Reality Marble, he ran for his life, finding amnesty in the unlikeliest of places, and have stayed in his safe haven ever since, even when the Mage's Association stopped pursuing him.

Now...he could return. For he had made himself such an enemy of the Association they had given up on their hunt, for both knew that it would not end well for one of them. He had demonstrated as such. He didn't know if it was out of fear or respect they avoided him. Possibly both.

He had a sledgehammer with him, and, unceremoniously, began to strike the ground next to back wall. The ground cracked and dust spewed into the air, but he kept at it. Finally, the ground gave way, to which Shirou dropped to his knees and began to move small slabs of concrete out of the way.

He dusted the area, to reveal a faded leather briefcase. He brought it out of the ground, opening it. A gun was in it, still in pristine condition. It was a Thompson Contender. Dozens of bullets for the gun were found along with it. Shirou chuckled to himself as he felt Kiritsugu's signature weapon, fingers trailing over the barrel. He had a sad smile on his face as he thought back to his foster father.

"Well, I couldn't fulfill your old dream, old man," Shirou shakily sighed, "but I tried my best."

He closed the case and began to walk back to the house with it, looking at the clear night sky and full moon. He frowned. He had a sickening feeling that something bad was going to happen. He felt a buzz from his phone. Even though it was 2019, he still kept a flip phone. It was just more convenient for his line of work.

It was an incoming phone call. The ID of the caller made him crack into a warm smile, the first one he had since he left for Japan. With a sigh, he flipped it open and began to speak. He was interrupted, however.

"Oi, Baba Yaga, I'm driving in from Mifune in the morning," A joking female voice was heard over the phone. Shirou's smile widened and his body relaxed.

"Hey, Ryougi," Shirou said warmly, "I know a nice Chinese restaurant in Fuyuki. Would you like to meet up there?"

* * *

Shirou dreamt. Usually, he didn't. He had a bit of a pill addiction when it came to painkillers, antidepressants, and sleeping pills, and that usually made sure he slept soundly.

This time, however, with his stash of pills confiscated by his boss, he had been stuck rehabilitating for the past two months. Without the pills, he dreamt. Usually, the dreams were never pleasant.

It was a beach. A beach full of the dead. He saw himself march up the beach, reinforced legs launching himself into the air to avoid artillery and machine gunfire.

As troops braved the bullets and bombs, others were blown into the air, limbs ripped and flown across, blood splattered and darkening the ocean waters and sand, while many were frozen in place, screaming for their lives.

Shirou, covered in grime and blood, barked orders to other troops to keep moving. The battlefield shifted towards a city. The scene was very much the same, only this time the streets of Shanghai were the battlefield, and civilians were added into the body count.

"OI!" Shirou saw himself scream at a group of soldiers, "GET YOUR ASS MOVING! NOW!" He barked orders and kept calm amidst the heavy violence and chaos.

Fires were in every corner of the city. Screams, cries, yells, and all of the like filled the air as much as the smoke and debris did. While artillery and gunfire rocked the city, buildings collapsed and the unmistakable smell of gunpowder and the dead were found throughout the atmosphere. Blood, guts, artillery shells, bullet casings, and shattered hearts were all things war conspires, all to crown the unfortunate damned souls with wreaths of mocking fire.

A sound caused him to turn around quickly, rifle raised. His expression turned to one of shock. His jaw dropped. A golden-blonde woman with long wavy and dark red eyes stared blankly at him. Despite the chaos, she wore a long white dress and had a noticeable pendant around her neck. A six-pointed star.

"Arc?" Shirou gasped.

His deceased wife. Why was she here? Suddenly, he saw an incoming artillery shell zoom through the air at them. Even if he maxed out his abilities, he wouldn't have reached her in time. "NO!" The ground erupted, and he was flung back as the area was destroyed.

* * *

Shirou woke up with a gasp. He breathed heavily, his hand clutching his chest as he tried to regain his composure. He glanced at the clock next to his bed. It was four in the morning. He groaned as he sat up.

"That again?" Shirou muttered dejectedly.

Suddenly, his ears perked as he began to hear a car alarm go off. Then a car crash. And another. And another. Concerned, he stood up. Looking out his window, his eyes widened as he saw the unmistakable orange-red hue in the sky of burning fires. Was that also gunfire he heard?

He soon heard screams fill the air. Was he in a nightmare? He pinched himself. Then he slapped himself. Apparently, this was reality.

"You've got to be fucking joking me," Shirou gasped in shock.

He heard footsteps outside his door. Then scratching. Though full of dread, he was indeed curious. He reached for his holster, cocking his gun and he slowly approached the door. He slid the door open to find...

"Fuji-nee?" Shirou murmured. Granted, her skin seemed slightly discolored. Her eyes seemed feral. In fact, she seemed to growl. "You...you alright?"

In a split second, Shirou flung her away as she tried to pounce on him, slamming her into the opposite wall. She slowly stood up. She bared her teeth at him and growled even further. He stood in confusion as he held up his gun.

Were those...were those fangs? He then noticed her eyes were bloodshot and her irises were dark red. Her nails seemed to have sharpened into claws, and she seemed ready to attack.

"Hey...Fuji-nee?" Shirou said calmly, "stand down. I don't want to hurt you."

She launched herself at him once again, tackling him to the floor and causing the gun to skid across the room. Her mouth opened as if she was ready to bite into him. He held her back with one arm, narrowly dodging a swipe of her claws at his face. She snapped her jaws like a dog at him, and he was terrified beyond belief.

His other arm reached out and he tried to Project something, anything! But...he couldn't. His face turned to one of shock. He couldn't even feel his Circuits. He couldn't even sense the mana in the air. It felt like the magical energy of the world was...frozen.

He heard a subdued growl and he was snapped back to the situation at hand. He elbowed Taigā across the face and kicked her off once again to the opposite wall.

Her movements were wild and uncoordinated, and Shirou scrambled for his gun. He reached for it and rolled out of the way as Taigā crashed into his location.

"Come on, Fuji-nee! I don't know what's going on, but it's me!" Shirou yelled desperately, "Shirou! Shirou Emiya! Your goddamn former student!"

She was mindless. She tried to attack again anyway.

"Come on!" Shirou pleaded, "think goddammit, remember who I am!?"

He intercepted her attack, grabbing her arm, flipping and slamming her over his back. He jumped back as she tried to swipe at him. She launched herself at him again, only for him to swing her across the room.

"Don't make me do this!" Shirou begged, "get ahold of yourself! Please!"

Shirou stepped out of the way as she crashed into the wall as she blindly charged at him. She staggered to get up. Her head suddenly turned...but in a 360 degrees motion, with now both her face and back facing him. She screeched an inhuman screech and Shirou immediately fired into her, but only in the leg and shoulder.

"Don't make me do this! Taigā! Don't do this! You know this isn't you! Fight it!" Shirou yelled firmly as he aimed his gun.

Even so...she stood up, as if unaffected by it. He stared at his former sensei in shock and horror. He had seen the undead before but never did he thought he had to face one. He dodged the next incoming attack, which narrowly missed him.

She was slowly learning, Shirou realized. Even worse, she was beyond rationale. Beyond saving. It was...it was like the whole fiasco with Sakura all over again.

"Goddammit!" Shirou roared in anger, firing three bullets into Taigā's head. She fell abruptly, finally put down.

With a nervous gulp, he stepped closer to the body. A vampire, he realized. Not a Dead Apostle, mind you, but a vampire you'd see in common folklore. He could tell just from looking at it. But that was impossible! They were so rare that even the Mage's Association considered them a myth. It boggled his mind, before the sudden realization who he had killed etched into his psyche.

"Oh Christ, what the hell did I just do?" Shirou said softly, "no, no, no, no, NO!"

He yelled in anger and frustration, wanting to punch a wall. His breathing became shaky and he trembled as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He wanted to fall back and cry at his action.

"Dammit, dammit," Shirou muttered as he clutched his head, "not again, not again!"

He steadied himself, trying to calm his breathing. With a trembling hand, he reached down for Taigā's body. He didn't touch it but trailed a hand above it. He frowned as he did, his eyes turning from one full of stressed anger and remorse to one of shock and horror.

"Her soul...why is it still there?" Shirou gasped. It seemed trapped in her body, unable to leave. Wait...how was that possible?

He looked at his hands. He tried to Project something. He couldn't. He tried to reinforce his arm. He couldn't. He tried to sense the mana in the air. He couldn't. He couldn't even sense the amount of Od in his body.

He tried to surge his Magic Circuits with energy. Nothing. He frowned considerably. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. He nervously looked back at Taigā's corpse.

He walked over to it and pulled out a flask from his bag. In a circular motion, he poured a few drops on her body. He didn't want her to be disgraced like this. She didn't deserve this damnation, and he would make sure she would be respected.

He said a silent prayer before he lit a match, throwing it on her corpse. It erupted into blue flames, a circle of fire around her, a six-pointed star in the middle. The flames began withering away her body, turning it to ash. He could finally feel her soul release from its undead prison. As Taigā turned to ash, Shirou looked at his window.

It seemed that even on his vacation, he was once again on the job. 'Tis the life of Shirou Emiya. Sticking his head into insanity even when he tried to avoid it.

* * *

_A/N: Grumpy in-his-thirties Shirou Emiya is back on the job with hijinks in next chapter. Thanks for reading._


	2. You've Done Me A Confuse

He quickly got himself dressed. He opened his suitcase, pulling up the upper layer to reveal another compartment. He grabbed the clothing he needed before he waved his hand. In a golden light, an object representing a bank vault door appeared in the middle of the air.

He twisted his hand, opening the vault and he shoved his suitcase and all of his things in before closing it, the vault fading out of existence as soon as he did.

Long socks, high heavy-duty combat boots, and durable trousers he quickly put on. He put a long-sleeved shirt over his white one before putting on a navy blue leather jacket, making sure each button was buttoned.

He heard footsteps outside his room. He quickened the pace, putting on an armored vest with ammunition pouches, armored pads on his knees, before putting on fingerless leather combat gloves.

He began putting on his holsters, two shoulder holsters for his Smith & Wesson M&P handgun and his Heckler & Koch P30L pistol. He sighed as he placed his Smith & Wesson 627 revolver and Colt M1911 pistol in his leg holsters.

He placed his brass-knuckled trench knife in its sheath on his hip, before sheathing another dagger in a sheath on his back. He took out another combat knife, odd symbols marked on its blade and tucked it away.

He put on a black topcoat this time over his multiple layers, the fabric meant to stop even sniper rounds. He finally placed elbow pads on, wondering if this was all worth it as he slung his last weapon over his shoulder, an M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle with a bayonet.

He opened the door to his room once again, in his hand his Glock 34. He looked down the hallway, wondering where the footsteps had come from. He walked slowly down the hallway, walking into the kitchen. He found Taigā's car keys on the counter, and he grabbed them.

He suddenly heard a heavy groan and he turned around. His eyes widened as he stared at what seemed to be a living corpse.

"No way," Shirou gasped. He had seen ghouls. He had seen man-eating fairies and sadistic Dead Apostles. This...this was horrifyingly different and possibly even worse.

Instead of what Taigā had looked like, it seemed to be decaying. It had pale, dirty, grayish skin. In fact, some of the skin had been ripped off, revealing bones and muscle underneath. It was covered in wounds and blood.

No fangs, no red eyes, just a...well, could he call it a zombie? He'll call it a zombie. Its eyes were dulled, fishlike, and without life. It growled like a wild animal and it seemed hellbent on trying to reach him.

It didn't seem to be The Dead, or any sort of familiar or servant a Dead Apostle would use. It just seemed like a reanimated body that was ready to rip him apart for no other reason but to do just that.

It moved wildly and without proper coordination as if its motor functions had been heavily impaired. Well, considering it did look dead, that was a given, he supposed. It snapped its jaws at him and was about to lunge.

He fired into its head, killing it instantly. As the zombie fell back, he edged closer. He could see several wounds on the body, including a noticeable bite wound on the shoulder.

"Zombies...I just killed a vampire now I'm killing zombies," Shirou laughed humorlessly, "great, whoop-di-fucking-do."

More groans could be heard and he gulped nervously as he began to walk outside. There were fires alright. Fires etched on every street corner of the city. The number of flames reminded him eerily of the Fuyuki Fire all those years ago. He could run away right now, try to leave Fuyuki and get help. But, even if his ideals had gone straight to shit all those years ago, he still had a job to do.

"Christ Almighty, why is this my job?" Shirou muttered, all of his senses on high alert.

Unfortunately, he could get help, but he'd need to stay here. In was within his line of work to investigate such matters after all. He jumped into Taigā's car, starting it on. He backed out of the driveway and, against his better judgment, drove into the city, hoping to find answers to this whole situation.

He checked his phone. Five in the morning. He sighed deeply and decided to dial a number, even though he knew the service was out. Instead, his flip phone went to voicemail. He hoped he could send it in case he died while on this new mission of his.

"Hey, Mum," Shirou sighed, "I won't be able to make it back home for supper next week...or the week after that. You get the gist. I got a bloody job to do on vacation! But anyways, I'm sure I can make it out of whatever bullshit I've gotten myself into. I always do. Go on with dinner without me, just remember to save me some pie..."

* * *

The power grid had somehow been turned off, leaving the entire city dark except for the numerous fires. As he drove into the heart of Shinto, he felt like he had arrived in hell, as if the Apocalypse had erupted. Corpses littered the streets and every inch of the city seemed to be in ruin.

He was glad that Taigā's vehicle was tough because he only kept seeing more and more zombies wandered the streets. Judging from the looks of things, Shirou concluded something must've spread to make every citizen in a Fuyuki a mindless walking corpse.

Was the entire city infected? The chaos seemed to have happened overnight. If they went by conventional zombie rules, he highly doubted the infection would've spread so quickly.

If it was a virus or a bacterium, a bite meant transmission by saliva, but such a way to spread disease was heavily hit-or-miss at best. If anything, he should see more of the dead, not the undead.

"My god, what happened here?" Shirou murmured. Perhaps playing Resident Evil too much had made him hallucinate.

He vaguely remembered where the police station was, and he hoped he could get some answers there. He turned on the radio, hoping for news, only to find nothing but static. An impending sense of doom filled his heart, and dread only etched into his mind.

What could've possibly happened? This much chaos couldn't have possibly happened in just a few hours, could it? And if this was the case here, was the rest of the world okay?

Suddenly, out of nowhere, lights blinded him. As he blocked it, he noticed the outline of a truck. Stupid truck, he thought.

"Oh, a truck driver, how splen-OH, SHIT!" Shirou made a sharp turn, managing to avoid the truck as it crashed into several other cars before flipping over and exploding from the gas in its tank.

Fires erupted on the street, blasting debris all over the pavement. Shirou didn't come out unscathed, however, as he crashed into another car hard, shattering the windshield. He groaned as he fell out of the car, slowly standing up with his rifle raised. As he staggered away, the car exploded, sending him off his feet. He groaned in pain as he stood up.

"Well, not a pleasant way to start off summer," Shirou muttered to himself before he noticed he had company, "oh, how nice."

Hordes of zombies began to approach him, causing him to fire his rounds into them. Every street seemed to have dozens of them. He cracked the skull of one with his rifle and kicked it away. More just seemed to keep coming.

It was like they felt no pain. Any bullet that didn't hit their neck or their head had no effect. He killed four, but there were dozens more. With a nervous gulp, he ran, knowing it was better to retreat than waste ammunition and energy. He turned around the street corner, skidding to a halt as he saw even more zombies.

He noticed corpses on the ground, with limbs and guts ripped out and the streets seemed to be slowly forming rivers of blood. Some bodies were simply ripped apart, while others were being munched on by dozens of other zombies.

This was a nightmare, Shirou thought in awe and shocked horror. Some of them knew how to move faster than others, but they were all rather idiotic, so that was an advantage. He quickly evaded or knocked the zombies out of the way, the undead giving chase as he did.

They were varied in appearance. Some looked all bloodied and gray, others looked recently turned. He made sure to avoid the ones already munching on corpses, all the while trying not to gag at the carnage.

He was used to bloodshed. He was used to monsters. He wasn't used to flesh-eating feral zombies as well as a city-wide outbreak of this caliber. He managed to outrun the horde out of his sight after several pain-staking minutes. They never seemed to tire and kept moving.

He eventually came to a run-down convenient store, deciding to walk in to find any survivors and supplies. Every corridor was without light and dark as midnight. It was silent. Too silent. With a nervous frown, he attached a light to his rifle. He kept his breathing quiet as he walked in.

Every aisle seemed to be ransacked, while the floors were covered in blood. A zombie jumped out of nowhere at him from behind an aisle, to which he slashed the back of zombie's neck before it could grab him.

"Fucking shit," Shirou murmured, "something's goddamn wrong with this city."

He ventured deeper into the store. A groan was heard, and he barely dodged another zombie jumping at him. He fired into its head as well. He managed to walk towards a section of the store and found a few lighters. He stashed two in his pocket and found painkillers as he ventured, stashing those as well.

"Hello?" Shirou called out, knowing full well that he might attract more of the undead. "Anyone here?" He turned the aisle, stopping in his tracks. A look of horror plastered on his face, he felt the urge to vomit.

These really were zombies. Not even the children were spared. A young child was ripping into the body of a man, blood covering its face as it ate like a wild beast, feral and savage, munching on the body as if it were a box of cookies.

Blood and guts were all over the floor. Dribbles of intestine could be seen dripping from the child's blood-covered face. It noticed Shirou, to which the redhead quickly shot it in the head, causing it to reel back and fall. Years of bloodshed had made him rather unrelenting and absolute, he supposed.

He pulled out his phone, scowling when he saw he had no signal. With all communication blocked off...it seemed as though he was alone in Fuyuki. He began to walk back out of the convenient store, quickly glancing around for any zombies, before he continued on his way towards the police station.

He met the occasional zombie, deciding to kill them with his bayonet to save bullets. It seemed any severe damage to the brain or the brain stem would kill them. That was a good thing, he supposed, to find out their main weakness so quickly.

But it did raise even more questions. This disaster didn't seem to be supernatural, Shirou noted. If it was some sort of pathogen, why did it only make the brain operate? Why did it need flesh? He doubted zombies ate brains for some asinine reason.

Assuming only a few parts of the brain was functioning, as he could tell from the way these zombies moved and behaved, he doubted most of their bodily systems were even functional. Their muscular system seems to be working, albeit at a limited stature.

Then there was the issue of that vampire that Taigā had turned into. Was that just a one-time thing or were there more of them?

He suddenly heard a scream in the distance. Even without his reinforced senses, he could tell where the scream was coming from. He ran, running down the street to find an alleyway full of zombies. However, they seemed to be closing in on something...

"Stop! Stay away! Get back!" A female voice screamed.

Shirou sighed and began to fire round after round into the zombies. They noticed him as he brought down their numbers, and he viciously stabbed the first one that tried to attack him in the head. He kicked another one back, shooting another zombie in the head once again. The last zombie he tripped and crushed the skull with his boot.

He looked up to see a rather short woman (well, to him anyway), leaning against the wall breathing heavily. He lowered his rifle slightly as he approached her. She backed slightly into the wall at the sight of him, fearful.

He guessed it was to be expected. You don't usually wander into a city full of the undead trying to eat your face off.

"Ma'am, I'm not going to hurt you," Shirou said firmly, albeit kindly.

She looked hesitant. She had rose-blonde hair and olive green eyes. Oddly enough, she wore a Taisho-styles kimono and a hakama, as well as long, leather boots. She was young, perhaps in her twenties or late-teens, and Japanese...yet she damningly enough, looked a lot like Saber...

"Are you hurt?" Shirou asked, "any scratches, cuts, bruises?" She shook her head. "Bites?"

"Bites?" The woman questioned, "no, of course not. Why?"

"Well, these bastards have a tendency to bite folks," Shirou replied dryly, "I'm Shirou Emiya. E Pluribus Unum. A pleasure to meet you."

"E...Pluribus Unum?" The woman said in confusion.

"Oh...right, I'm not on active duty," Shirou murmured, "I'm a federal agent from another country if that helps."

"I'm...I'm-"

"I know you're a Servant," Shirou stated. The woman's eyes widened in shock. "It's not that hard. No one dresses like that around here unless there's an anime convention and not too many people carry swords."

That was a bit of a lie, of course. While the way she dressed was a clue, Shirou could recognize her life energy. A skill he had picked up while in his line of work. He sensed remnants of a Heroic Spirit's Mystery, yet it seemed to be fading rapidly.

She sheepishly stammered before closing her mouth shut, a light blush on her cheeks. Shirou, on the other hand, wasn't surprised. It wasn't something so outlandish he'd never see before.

Even so...it didn't make much sense to him. There wasn't a Holy Grail that he knew of here. If there was, then his boss surely would've assigned him a mission instead of a vacation. If another one had been created, it would've been hunted down and destroyed right off the bat.

The last Holy Grail War ended when he himself ended it fifteen years ago. How was it possible for a Servant to be summoned now? It made no sense! Though, then again...he really didn't know what to believe anymore. As of this moment, Shirou Emiya, in his 32 years of existence, could really say he had seen it all.

"Saber class, am I correct?" Shirou asked.

"Yes...I'm Okita...Okita Souji," Okita replied softly. Shirou only chuckled. He knew he'd meet one of Japan's legendary swordsmen? A woman no less, yet, with his experience with Saber, history tended to be bent backwards.

"Not the weirdest I've seen, believe me," Shirou sighed, "follow me, you can fill me in on the way." He still noticed the look on her face. "If I wanted to kill you I would've done it by now. Let's go. Besides, strength in numbers, you know?"

She finally relented, tagging along. The police station was just far down the street and around the corner, perhaps a thirty-minute walk at the latest.

"So, how did a Servant like you suddenly become powerless against a pack of the undead?" Shirou asked. Okita's cheeks were flustered. He found it cute.

"I...I was just summoned here by something," Okita said sheepishly, "I don't know who or how, but I'm here, and I don't have any powers."

"Wait, so you just popped up here out of nowhere?" Shirou asked incredulously.

"Pretty much," Okita nodded, "I-I-I opened my eyes and the n-next thing I knew I was being chased around by those things! But I can't do anything a regular Servant can do!"

"In other words, you're a regular human," Shirou said bluntly. Okita nodded. To her surprise, he touched her forehead for a second before letting go. "Well, I'll be damned. You aren't a Heroic Spirit anymore, either. You're mortal."

That raised more than a few alarms in his head. Shirou didn't recall anyone capable of ripping out Heroic Spirits from the Throne of Heroes and making them human again. Hell, how the hell do you depower a Heroic Spirit? Then again...there was one possibility, but it was unlikely, he thought to himself. Either way, such a thing occurring told him larger forces were at work, and perhaps the reason the city went to hell.

"I'm...I'm what?" Okita said in disbelief.

"It's like you were ripped out of the Throne and revived..." Shirou muttered, "this is bad. Without a good weapon, you'll be dead in hours."

"I have a sword," Okita said hopefully.

"That won't do much when you have a mob of them coming at you," Shirou frowned. Okita also frowned.

"Where are we headed?" Okita asked, "out of this city, I hope?"

"The police station," Shirou replied, "I hope to find some answers to this whole mess. Besides, we don't know if this has spread to any other cities."

He flinched as he heard what seemed like a bone crack.

"Did you hear that?" Okita gasped.

Suddenly, Shirou tripped her, causing her to fall to the ground hard. She barely had time to register why he did it until she saw a blur of a creature slam into the ground a few feet in front of them.

"Be careful, that thing nearly lopped off your head," Shirou grimaced.

He turned his attention back on the creature. It was humanoid. Pale skin and glowing red eyes. It was just like Taigā, Shirou realized. He then saw the fangs as the creature growled. Vampires.

The vampire launched itself at blinding speeds at Shirou. If it hadn't been for his years of experience, he might've been another meal. The redhead responded with a good kick to its skull, sending it crashing into a brick wall. It quickly got up, however, dashing up and about before trying to strike again.

Okita quickly slashed at it, splitting the vampire's face open and causing it to reel back in pain. Shirou quickly shot it twice in the head. The two of them looked up as they heard hissing, and found a pack of vampires marching just around the corner.

"Kill...them..." One hissed. They charged towards them in a murderous zeal.

Shirou was now more dumbfounded than ever. What type of bullshit happened in this damn city that its entire population turned into zombies and vampires? What's next? Werewolves? Actually, he didn't want to be answered.

"Run," Shirou ordered, "now!"

Unfortunately, the vampires were faster than the average human. Okita, her senses honed from years of training, narrowly dodged the swing of a vampire's claws, which instead struck the door of a car, ripping the entire door right off. Okita quickly impaled it in the throat. Shirou fired upon one of them, blowing its brains out. He was suddenly tackled to the ground by two of them, their fangs baring.

Shirou forcibly shook one off, before he punched the second and then stabbed the first one with his bayonet. Okita, after managing to decapitate one, watched in amazement as Shirou suddenly ripped off the one on him and flung the vampire a good seventy feet down the street.

"Oi! Stay sharp!" Shirou yelled, firing a bullet that killed the vampire right behind Okita. The vampire fell back unceremoniously with a thud.

She gulped before swinging her sword again, slashing the chest of another. Shirou kicked another vampire in the chest, slashing its throat with his rifle's bayonet. Just when it seemed to be over, the two of them heard vicious inhuman screams down the street.

"There's more incoming!" Okita warned. Thirty to be exact. They were all rushing in like a mob. Shirou scowled. He took out something from his pouch. It was a small flask of green glowing liquid.

He quickly grabbed Okita by the hand and flung the flask at the incoming mob, smacking one on the head. He snapped his fingers, and Okita's eyes widened as a fiery fireball appeared in thin air, launching itself at the mob of vampires just as the flask shattered.

Shirou pulled Okita over a car to use as a shield. A massive explosion rocked the entire city, much less the street. Green flames erupted across the field, burning everything it touched. Windows shattered, debris flew into the air, and even the car they used as cover looked like it was about to tip over.

As the dust settled, Shirou quickly pulled Okita up to her feet and they ran for their lives towards the police station. She looked back at the area, shocked to find everything in ashes.

"What...what the hell was that!?" Okita exclaimed.

"Greek Fire," Shirou said darkly, "don't ask me how I got it."

They soon reached the police station, managing to catch their breath. It looked like it was in disarray, yet many of the barricades were still in place. They stopped outside a tall, metal fence.

"Alright, I'll lift you up," Shirou sighed, "ready?" Okita nodded, and as soon as she got over, Shirou pulled himself over as well.

"Is that the entrance?" Okita asked, pointing at the doors to the station.

"Sure seems like it," Shirou said dryly.

He tried the door handle. Unlocked. The two of them looked at each other nervously before Shirou opened it. The inside of the station was in shambles. Everything was in massive disarray. The floors were covered in blood and debris, as well as shattered glass and bullet casings.

It was way too silent for either of their likings. Shirou frowned as he led the way in. He attached a flashlight to his rifle as they entered the station.

"Hello?" Shirou called out, "anyone here? Anyone!?"

No response.

"It looks like a battle took place here," Okita remarked, "so they're in here too, huh?"

"Whatever you do, aim for the head," Shirou stated and Okita nodded.

This place gave both of them the creeps. They were in the lobby, and they walked up to the counter. Shirou looked over, finding a corpse laying on the floor. He poked it, finding a bullet in its head before he walked up to the computers. He scowled, as with the power out there really was nothing they could check or see.

He gestured her to follow, putting a finger up to his lips to tell her to stay quiet. They ventured into the detective's section of the station. They noticed ceiling tiles missing, doors that had been busted down, chairs and desks overturned, and sparks from damaged lights, all giving an air of creepiness to the station.

Suddenly, a zombie fell out of the ceiling right in front of Shirou. The two of them nearly screamed in fright, as the zombie snapped its jaws at them like a feral beast. The redhead quickly shot it in the head twice. The two of them looked at each other sheepishly before continuing.

He kicked down a door, the light from his flashlight glancing around to see if there was anyone.

"The whole place seems to be empty," Okita said softly.

They began to notice more and more corpses on the floor as they walked by. A slight groan was heard, and to their surprise, a corpse that was laying down was slowly sitting back up. It looked like it had just died, the coloring in its skin still slightly evident.

Shirou quickly fired a bullet in its head, killing it instantly.

"Perhaps there's a timeframe before these bastards turn," Shirou murmured.

"Who could turn human beings into such a thing?" Okita said in horror.

Shirou didn't know, and he highly doubted Dead Apostles were ever this disgustingly brutish. Whatever happened, there must be a cause. He was determined to figure out what it was.

They continued through the station. The station was large, and Shirou hoped they could find a safe spot so he could give Okita proper weaponry. With the power out, every second was tense. Every noise could be a sign of a zombie, or a vampire, or whatever the hell else was wandering in this city. It was terrifying. Shirou hadn't dealt with a disaster on this magnitude for years.

They soon entered a hallway leading to the patrol section of the station. The corridors were dark and damp from the blood. Every step they took creaked the wood floors. Okita didn't even want to make a nervous gulp, afraid of what could happen as they walked through.

They heard light groans and they both were suddenly on high alert. One of the doors behind Okita burst open, revealing a feral zombie. The two them, in their fright, jumped back a few inches. She hastily unsheathed her sword and decapitated it. She shivered as she kicked the head away.

"I think I'm getting used to this," Okita remarked.

"Ain't that dandy," Shirou murmured.

More groans could be heard. Shirou immediately fired upon the incoming zombies. One jumped out of a close door, grabbing onto him. The zombie snapped its jaw at him, and Shirou grunted in annoyance as the zombie tried to bite him. He elbowed it in the head before Okita stabbed it through the eye.

It fell, and he began to fire upon the others. Okita decapitated two as they approached. He fired and killed the last one. More groans could be heard, and they looked behind them to see dozens more slowly walking towards them. Police officers. All turned.

"We should run," Okita stated.

"Good idea," Shirou agreed and they ran, to where they didn't know. The two them finally found themselves in a hallway, and Shirou noticed a sign outside one of the doors. An armory.

Out of nowhere, the window behind Shirou shattered, and he was grabbed by the feral undead. His back slammed against the wall and he dropped his rifle. He managed to resist being dragged through the window, yet his eyes widened as he saw the head of one of the bastards, with skin peeling off and large bleeding areas on the skull, move next to his.

"Okita! Grab the rifle!" Shirou shouted urgently. She quickly grabbed it, yet her inexperience with guns led her to hesitate as she held it. "AIM THE DAMN THING AND PULL ThE TRIGGER!"

She hastily did just as Shirou managed to wrestle away from the grasp of the zombie, avoiding the blood splatters from the bullet wound Okita left. They heard the growls and groans of the undead horde behind them, slowly getting closer and closer. Shirou grabbed Okita by the hand and ran.

They finally reached the armory, and Shirou pushed the doors open before slamming them shut again, and Okita dragged over a shelf to barricade the metal doors while Shirou locked all of the locks. They were too afraid to even emit a sigh of relief.

The armory seemed to be clear. Shirou noticed, however, the entire armory seemed to be empty, with every gun gone. Even the body armor was gone, along with helmets and ammunition. He checked everything. Everything was cleared, zombie and weapon alike.

"Damn, I was hoping to find somebody," Shirou muttered, "as well as some weapons for you." He turned around. "Alright. You're gonna need to get dressed."

"What?" Okita asked.

"You're not going to make it out with those clothes," Shirou sighed, "somehow, whatever made these people turn also gave them increased jaw strength. Human teeth have enough trouble ripping through cotton, yet these bastards are ripping through everything. Don't worry, I have extra clothes that I can modify."

In her surprise, Shirou's vault door reappeared in the air and out his arms reached in, waved around a bit, before pulling out a set of clothes and weapons.

"D-Don't look," Okita said sheepishly as Shirou handed her the clothes.

"As much as I'd love to," Shirou sighed, causing Okita to fluster. "I am a man of class."

Okita quickly put on the first few layers of clothing. It was much like Shirou's, with the only difference being her leather jacket was a dark chocolate brown while she had different holsters.

She handed him her original clothes. Luckily, they weren't covered in blood, rather dirt and grime. He didn't trust it, however, and pulled out a large plastic bag from his vault and shoved the clothes in there before shoving it back into the vault.

He helped her with her armored pads and body armor. He handed her a few guns. A Heckler & Koch P30L pistol just like him, a Colt .44 Magnum revolver, a SIG Sauer M11 pistol, and a Glock 34 handgun. She was then handed an extra gun. A Beretta 92. Each firearm seemed to be imbued with some of energy that Okita couldn't quite figure out.

"You know how to aim well?" Shirou asked.

"Of course," Okita nodded.

"Listen closely then," Shirou stated, before quickly explaining on how to operate and use each gun. Okita was lucky she was a quick learner and could hear well. She was a swordsman, after all. Guns were a rather new weapon she had no choice but to master.

She attached her sword to her side behind her topcoat while Shirou brought out a few knives for as well. She received the same brass-knuckled trench knife he had, as well as a KM2000 German military knife and a black-bladed dagger with runes carved into the blade.

"Here's a rifle, there is a no other rifle like it, you must master this rifle as you master yourself," Shirou jokingly said as he handed her an M1 Garand with a bayonet, "how do you feel?"

"This feels kinda heavy but lighter than I'd thought," Okita stated.

"You'll get used to it," Shirou sighed.

"Is this usual for you?" Okita asked, "this whole outfit?"

"Only when I'm out in the field at work," Shirou said sheepishly, "the topcoat should protect your neck. We should find something to protect our heads though..."

"Didn't you say I had been ripped out of the Throne Of Heroes?" Okita asked, "how...how could you tell?"

"A skill I picked up over the years," Shirou said vaguely, "I can detect some things others can't. As for you being here, I don't know how it happened. Alas, besides the mental scarring, how are you holding up?"

"I'm tired, if that's any indication," Okita said dryly. He chuckled in response. "Are they ghouls? Demons?"

"Zombies," Shirou stated.

"Zom...bies?"

"The undead. You know, living corpses meant to eat your face off."

"Isn't that same thing?"

"No, zombies just want to eat your face off because they feel like it."

"That's...not very nice," Okita muttered. Shirou shrugged.

"So it's me, a federal agent from another country, and you, a legendary swordsman that should be dead, against a city of 1.3 million people in the middle of Japan," Shirou sighed, "wonderful."

"That's not very optimistic," Okita remarked, "so...is this normal in your line of work?"

"Not really," Shirou sighed, "not on this magnitude. I've dealt with the undead before, but this is unsettling. Vampires? My god, what's next?"

"Don't answer that, please," Okita said nervously.

There was a sudden banging. Not on the front doors of the armory, but at the very back. The two looked at each other and gulped nervously. Shirou led the way. They found a back door at the very end of the armory.

"What should we do?" Okita asked.

"Well, either we go through one way and face a horde, or we go this way and face whatever it is," Shirou said grimly. Suddenly, the door burst open. "Aim and ready!"

He aimed his rifle, Okita hastily aimed hers as well, not used to having a firearm in her hand. The smoke cleared and a female voice came out, her hands raised in a panic.

"Don't shoot!" A blonde girl yelled. Shirou's eyes widened in shock. Familiar blonde hair and green eyes came into the fray.

"S...Saber?" Shirou murmured.

"Woah!" Another man ran in, his face covered by a mask and sunglasses along with a helmet. "Everyone lower your weapons!"

He had a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun. He was armored just like they were, albeit his armor was more on the side of standard military combat uniforms. The woman looked just as equally armored, likely due to the man.

"How about you lower yours?" Okita retorted at the man. The man only raised his gun higher.

"We don't want any harm," The man stated.

"Don't be saying that while you have a fucking gun aimed at us, dipshit," Shirou scowled, "who the hell are you?" Instead, the man answered Shirou with a completely unrelated question.

"Did you drink the tap water?" The man questioned.

"What?" Shirou asked in confusion.

"I said, did you drink the fucking tap water!?" The man questioned.

"No!" Shirou replied with annoyance, "what the hell are you on about?"

The man finally lowered his weapon and sighed deeply. He hastily took off his headgear. Both Shirou and Okita gasped in shock. The woman looked at the two of them before realizing it as well.

The man had light copper hair styled in a dappered side-part. His eyes were the color of pure amber and he looked slightly older than Shirou, at least in his early forties.

He seemed to be at least an inch shorter than Shirou, though he still had a slim, but strong muscular build to him. He had a short-boxed beard and seemed as weary as Shirou was. Albeit there were minor differences, one look at his face and it was undeniable. Shirou himself looked like he was staring at a ghost.

"How?" Shirou questioned. The man only shrugged, as if he'd been in this situation before.

"Charles Matsumoto," The man said with a wry grin, "or, in other words, I'm also Shirou Emiya. A pleasure to meet you, my fellow counterpart."

His life was batshit crazy, Shirou thought. He'll need a drink if he survived this.

* * *

_A/N: Zombies! Vampires! Wheee! Currently, we have our first Shirouface to appear, Charles Matsumoto. Along with Shirou, they'll be trying to investigate the cause of the outbreak, as well as figure out the eventual reason for why Servants are appearing but with no powers and with a physical, living body._

_Unfortunately for our favorite redhead, zombies and vampires won't be the only creatures he'll be facing. Till next time._


	3. Investigation Ensues

"What...how...what?" Shirou asked in confusion.

He couldn't believe it. He knew there were other universes, but what the hell warranted another version of him entering his universe?

Or was this man a Servant? Counter Guardian? No...judging from his life signature his counterpart was alive as he was.

"So...counterpart of mine, how's your day?" Charles Matsumoto asked.

"Really?" Shirou deadpanned.

"Well, I've gotta start conversation somehow," Charles sighed, "so are you just Shirou Emiya in this world or...?"

"Aye, that's my name," Shirou nodded. Charles made an expression of slight surprise.

"You didn't change it?" Charles asked incredulously, "as my counterpart, didn't you leave Japan? You're half and half, aren't you?"

"Frederick Kennedy, then," Shirou sighed, "I took after my father."

"Aren't you Japanese, sir?" Okita asked in confusion. Then she gawked. She actually began to notice some European features in the man!

"Aye, I am...albeit only half," Shirou sighed, "it's not every day you see a redhead Japanese man with gold eyes, now is it?"

There was more to that of course. He just didn't want to get into details. He had taken after his mother's Japanese looks while he still lived in Japan. After he left, however, his father's side started to show more on his features. Obviously, genetics don't work like that. Human genetics, at least.

"My god, you really are...me," Charles remarked. He turned his body to see Shirou's side. "Christ, we even have the same, perfect, sculpted ass."

"Hey!" Shirou said with a flustered look. Charles suddenly patted underneath Shirou's body armor. Violation of privacy, much!?

"Damn, I reckon I need to start doing crunches again," Charles muttered, "well, there are slight variations, I suppose."

"Of course, I'm the more handsome one," Shirou stated.

"Oh hoh! That's debatable," Charles laughed sarcastically, "I'll have you know I get better with age. Besides, I have the sexier hair."

"Yes," Shirou sighed, "and it seems I have the bigger package."

"W-Well different universes, different compensations," Charles said with a blush.

"Really? What else have you been caught lack-"

"Can we get back on topic?" Okita deadpanned.

The two counterparts found it adorable that Okita was holding her hands over the Arturia counterpart's innocent ears like a protective big sister.

"Where do you reside now? You're not...working for the Russians, now are you?" Charles questioned slowly. Shirou scoffed.

"E Pluribus Unum," Shirou deadpanned, "learn some Latin, will you?"

A look of realization and heavy relief was evident on Charles's face.

"I see...what year is it, by the way?" Charles asked, "Fuyuki is destroyed from where I'm from."

"Destroyed? How?" Shirou asked in shock.

"Underground nuclear detonation," Charles grimaced, "the whole city is irradiated from the Great War."

"The war happened in your universe?" Shirou gasped, "the Allies won, right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't be here if we didn't," Charles replied, "is...is either Rin or Sakura still around?" The look on Shirou's face said it all. "I see..."

"Well, it's June 2, 2019," Shirou said dryly. Charles looked shocked as if he had seen a ghost. It took him a second before he regained his composure.

"Damn, where I'm from it's 2026," Charles stated.

"Mr. Charles, what's going on?" The blonde next to him asked. Shirou couldn't believe it either. She looked exactly like Saber!

"Timey-wimey shenanigans, my dear," Charles said sheepishly.

"That doesn't explain anything!" The blonde pouted.

"I'll try to explain everything when we get to a safe location," Charles chuckled softly, "bare with me here, sweetheart."

"Is she-"

"Yes, she's Arturia Pendragon," Charles confirmed, "the younger and more innocent version, so I call her Lily. I like that better. The Arturia I knew was a bit too uptight...she's not here, is she?"

"No," Shirou deadpanned.

"I expected you to be freaking out."

"No, just mildly surprised."

"Huh...how fucked is your life, dude?"

"Did...did you just call me dude?"

"Anyway," Charles coughed awkwardly, "I guess you have a Servant with you as well?"

He glanced behind Shirou and spotted Okita, who still seemed bewildered at the idea that there were two Shirou Emiyas. In fact, the swordsman needed time to process it, really.

"Did...are you mortal, too?" Lily asked gently.

"Unfortunately, yes," Okita nodded, "I don't think I can be surprised anymore if I'm being honest." Charles frowned considerably.

"And you are, sweetheart?" Charles asked.

"O-Okita Souji, sir," Okita said quickly. Shirou sighed and patted the swordsman on the head, which caused her to blush.

"Yikes, this isn't good," Charles grimaced, "well, counterpart of mine, Lily apparently has no powers and has a physical body. I haven't been in the magic business for the past twenty years, but can you tell me what's going on? This is way out of my comfort zone."

"Wait, what the hell do you mean you've been out of the magic business for twenty years?" Shirou asked slowly.

"Uh...I hunt aliens," Charles said sheepishly.

"...Aliens?"

"Aliens."

"Fucking aliens?"

"Yes...aliens."

"You've got to be joking," Shirou said in an exasperated tone.

Charles sighed, before pulling out what seemed to be his ID and badge. Shirou and Okita gawked at his ID. _Agent A7_, the ID stated. They noticed his ID picture, which wasn't much, as he was dressed in a black suit and had dark sunglasses on. His badge had the word _Men in Black _engraved in the gold.

Shirou had heard about the MIB, or Men in Black. All alien conspiracists have.

Though, the Men in Black that he and his colleagues heard about had a myth-like status to them. They didn't know whether or not the MIB actually existed, but the rumor went that the MIB was a U.S. government intelligence and paramilitary agency separate from the rest of the American intelligence community.

Apparently, the rumor was that they had spent the past two hundred years protecting Earth and America from extraterrestrial dangers.

"You're joking, right?" Shirou said incredulously.

"Whether you believe me or not, now that I'm here, it is my duty to investigate," Charles said firmly, "as well as figure out how to get back to my own universe."

"Thanks for your assistance then," Shirou said, still dumbfounded.

"Pleasure is mine," Charles chuckled, "anyway, want to tell me how our two Heroic Spirits are mortal? They're...mortal, right?"

"You can't read souls?" Shirou asked incredulously.

"Why? Is that what they teach you at work?" Charles exclaimed.

"Huh...never mind then," Shirou frowned, "well, they're not Heroic Spirits anymore."

"What?" Charles gasped in shock, "you're telling me they're seriously mortal? Like alive? Flesh, blood, soul and all?"

"Sounds about right," Shirou sighed in exasperation.

"I haven't dealt with any sort of supernatural bullshit in years, but if I recall not even a Holy Grail could summon a full Heroic Spirit," Charles stated.

"Aye, that's why this is abnormal," Shirou replied grimly and then he turned towards Lily, "did you just wake up here in this city? You couldn't have possibly been summoned, right?"

"I-I don't know what happened," Lily said sheepishly, "I just remember waking up and seeing zombies everywhere. I don't even know how I got here."

"Hell, that's the same thing that happened to Okita," Shirou said slowly, "and you? What happened?"

"Practically the same thing as these two," Charles sighed, "damn, and I had just gotten home from work, too."

A dent suddenly formed on the metal doors to the armory, startling all of them. Someone was punching into metal. Then another punch to the door. Then another. Then another!

"Let's leave, please," Lily said fearfully.

"Good idea," Charles quickly nodded, "come on! We'll talk about this once we get to a safe spot."

He was right. Shirou decided it was best for them to talk about their origins when they find a way out of here first.

* * *

They ran through the door Charles and Lily went through, with the former in the front leading them while Shirou closed the door behind them, being the tail of the group. After a few twists and turns, they entered a room, an office room, breaking through the door quickly.

The room was full of corpses. It seemed as if there was a struggle here. Charles entered the room slowly. Suddenly, one of the corpses grabbed onto him, its hand having a vice grip on the man's ankle.

"Jesus fucking Christ you damn shitebag!" Charles growled angrily, trying to shake the damn thing off.

Shirou viciously stomped on the zombie's head, spilling its contents all over the floor.

"Thanks," Charles said sheepishly, "looks like the whole station is infected. Though...considering my line of work, I'm going to have to investigate further."

"Same here," Shirou said dryly.

"Really?" Charles remarked, "who the hell do you work for?"

"Imperium," Shirou replied, "E Pluribus Unum." Charles's face turned to one of pure shock and amazement.

"Imperium? Like _the_ Imperium? We thought you folks were a myth!" Charles exclaimed, "so they are real...insane that is! Well, if they exist in my universe, I've got to thank you then. It's hard enough protecting the world."

"Well, that makes two of us," Shirou sighed, "still surprised by the aliens though."

"Really, dipshit, you investigate genocidal maniac wizards and Super Saiyan vampires and you're surprised aliens exist?" Charles deadpanned.

"How'd...how'd you know?"

"Educated guess."

Meanwhile, Okita and Lily were whispering to each other.

"What the hell are they talking about?" Okita asked.

"I don't...I don't really know," Lily said sheepishly, "I'm as confused as you are. They talk about things I have no knowledge about."

"He has a habit of not telling me stuff," Okita sighed dejectedly. Lily patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. They noticed the two Shirous had begun planning something.

"Well, I've already checked out some of the other office rooms and the briefing room," Charles sighed, "and you've checked out the patrol and detective sectors?"

"Mostly us running," Shirou sighed, "we did check a few rooms. Nothing there. We could just go for the interrogation and evidence rooms and holding cells. The patrol and detective sectors of this place are crawling with the undead."

"Well, we have to check on them later," Charles groaned.

"Oh, I get that, but you came through the back door," Shirou stated, "when me and Okita went down there we almost got ourselves killed." Charles visibly frowned. "We're higher in numbers now. We'll check later, as you said."

"Well, this is one room I haven't checked yet," Charles muttered, "let's go through the cabinets. Maybe we could find something useful."

They began to break into cabinets and drawers, busting open locks and looking around on the desks. Shirou felt a bit queasy casually stepping over so many bodies. It reminded him too much about the war.

The four of them, even with their flashlights attached to their guns, felt tense and fearful. The darkness of the room, the disarray of the desk, chairs, and papers, as well as the smell and sight of blood on the walls, floor, and ceiling, left them all on edge.

"So why did you ask about the water earlier?" Shirou asked.

"The city's water supply is infected," Charles sighed.

"How can you tell, sir?" Okita asked. Charles pulled out a corked flash full of liquid out from his pouch before he placed it back in.

"I collected a sample," Charles explained, "I can't do much here, but I can confirm one thing. It's a virus infecting these people. Besides. Saw a dude drinking tap water. Didn't turn out so nice. Why didn't you bring any detective stuff?"

"On vacation," Shirou said sheepishly, "or I was supposed to be."

"My condolences," Charles said sincerely, "I've been there myself."

"A virus? So it isn't of supernatural origin?" Okita said incredulously.

"No, it isn't," Charles shook his head.

"That's fine and dandy, but once a body is dead, shouldn't it stay dead unless it's been tampered by magecraft?" Lily asked.

"I can't do much around here so my knowledge is limited," Charles sighed, "we'd need an autopsy or something on one of these damn things for me to investigate this outbreak. Someone infected the water supply with this weird virus. This has to be deliberate."

"Well that reaffirms my suspicions," Shirou muttered, "and seeing these things are up and running, it must be attacking the central nervous system before it causes organ failure."

"The body dies an hour after it's been infected," Charles said grimly, "it only takes three to nine minutes before the body starts to move again after it has died. My tests have confirmed it isn't extraterrestrial in nature, though. It's from Earth."

A heavy silence filled the room. Earth? That must be impossible, Shirou thought. What type of Earthly virus could raise the dead?

"And vampires?" Shirou asked slowly.

"Oh, you've seen them too?" Charles remarked, "I haven't been able to examine those yet."

"Not pleasant, mind you," Shirou said dryly, "I don't know if it's the same virus, but they're stronger and faster than their zombified counterparts. And, from what I've seen, they slowly regain their intelligence."

"They're different than the Dead Apostles and their cronies, right?" Charles asked.

"Obviously," Shirou sighed, "besides. The Imperium hunted the Apostles to near extinction. I doubt they'd be able to pull this off."

"What _is_ the Imperium, anyway?" Okita asked, "you've mentioned it ever since you found me."

Shirou paused for a brief moment as if he was contemplating whether or not to say anything.

"Do you know what Harry Potter is?" Shirou finally asked.

"...No."

"The Throne Of Heroes is trash."

"Back to the point!"

"Well..." Shirou sighed, "the Imperium...the Imperium isn't an organization like the Mage's Association. It's a functioning government body."

"You mean...it's its own nation?" Lily gasped.

"Yes, basically a country operated by magi," Shirou nodded, "the Imperium is one of them and there's 23 in total. The magi countries of the world tend to correlate with their non-magi counterparts. For example, with the Russians we have Putin and then we have the Russian Ministry...is Putin still the leader of Russia in your universe?"

"Unfortunately, merrily so," Charles sighed.

"They're powerful...real powerful," Shirou stated coldly, "the only one who can try to rival the Imperium is the Russian Ministry, and that's just barely. I guess the French Empire comes in second. Granted, not one person is powerful. A nation requires all of its citizens to make it powerful after all."

"How powerful are we talking about?" Charles asked slowly.

"Well...the Imperium, and I've been apart of their assignments, are rather notorious," Shirou explained dryly, "we've...we've hunted down so many Dead Apostles we've made a fool out of the Church. I executed Altrouge Brunestud myself. We killed off the Type-planets. We've killed gods, demons, burned down most of the Wandering Sea...we even wrung Primate Murder by his neck."

There was an uneasy shock between the two Servants. Lily's jaw was slightly ajar while Okita, although her knowledge was limited, still had some knowledge filled in from her time in the Throne of Heroes. Shirou glanced at Charles. The MIB agent, to his amazement, had a look of empathy and understanding. It seemed that while their line of work was different, the hell they went through was not.

"Back on topic, if we make it out of here alive, we're going to have to run our options," Shirou said darkly, "we don't know if this has spread beyond Fuyuki, much less Japan."

"Knowing the Americans, they're going to launch a nuclear bombardment on this island once news spreads," Charles grimaced.

"That's not good," Lily remarked fearfully, "is...is there anything else Mr. Kennedy?"

Shirou glanced at the girl for a brief second. It was odd seeing a young Arturia Pendragon. But he would praise her if they had the time. He could see she was scared.

She trembled, the worry in her eyes and the doubt on her face was evident, as well as the nervousness in her voice showed him she was faced with a calamity this big for the first time. She was doing well so far in keeping it together.

"These zombies...considering they're still able to move, make noises, and munch on shit, parts of their brain and other systems in their body are still working," Shirou grimaced, "though it is incredibly limited. Doesn't explain the need to eat flesh, however..."

"So an undead version of rabies?" Charles guesses.

"Who knows...with what we're seeing, could be," Shirou said darkly.

"Oh, I found someone's...is this what people call a phone?" Okita asked. She wasn't from this era of course, but she made an educated guess. They all looked at the device in her hand.

"Brilliant," Lily remarked.

Luckily, it still had battery life. Shirou frowned as he noticed it had a password. Charles took the phone and pulled out what looked like a glowing...alien wand? Wait a minute, it looked eerily familiar to a sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who...

Either way, the password unlocked. Shirou saw the sad look on Lily's face. He could see why as he noticed the ID on the desk. The owner of the phone was a young woman, who was a rookie on the job. To say it was a terrible first day on the job was an understatement. However...he couldn't find her body anywhere in the room. Perhaps she died somewhere else?

"Check the texts, emails, voice memos, and whatever else," Shirou stated, "it's likely she tried to call or text someone while the outbreak was going on." Charles nodded in reply. With service and the power out, it wasn't like they could check Twitter.

They first looked at her messages. Mainly they were messages saying her last goodbyes to family and friends. However, there was one chain of messages to a certain Elias Sokolov.

"Strange," Shirou murmured.

"What is it?" Okita asked.

"Elias...that's the name my father would've given me if he hadn't died," Shirou said softly.

"Father? You mean our biological father?" Charles asked. Shirou nodded slowly. "Well, the surname indicates the man is Russian. What the hell would a Russian be doing here in Japan for?"

"Look...it's the only thread of messages in English," Lily noted, "aren't we in Japan?"

"Let's figure out why then, shall we?" Okita said sheepishly. It first started off rather sweet. Shirou noticed the girl's name was Ayaka Sajyou. Perhaps she managed to escape?

The man Elias seemed to be a parental figure almost, congratulating her on getting into the police force and offering her advice along the way. However, it soon went downhill from there.

_'The department is trying to keep calm. But we've been getting reports about the undead. Idk, it seems kinda outlandish to me.'_ 9:32 PM (Ayaka).

"Well shit, I was asleep by then," Shirou muttered.

"How the fuck did you not wake up?" Charles questioned. Shirou suddenly thought back to it. He did feel...rather drowsy when he went to bed. Not from the alcohol, mind you.

"I don't know," Shirou said with a noticeably confused frown.

_'Leave the city right now.' _9:33 PM (Elias)

_'But we're understaffed right now.'_ 9:33 PM (Ayaka)

_'I don't give a fucking damn, leave the city_.' 9:34 PM (Elias)

"This Elias fella seems to know more about this than we do," Charles murmured.

_'The roads in and out of Fuyuki are destroyed._' 9:40 PM (Ayaka)

_'What the hell do you mean, "destroyed"?'_ 9:41 PM (Elias)

_'The roads have been bombed or something. There's no way in and no way out.'_ 9:42 PM (Ayaka)

"No way in...no way out?" Shirou muttered, "so this attack was deliberate after all. Someone tried to cut Fuyuki off from the rest of the world."

"But who?" Okita asked.

_'I'm coming to Fuyuki right now from Hiroshima. Keep me updated.'_ 9:46 PM (Elias)

From there, however, the texts became more grim and gruesome. It felt hard just to read them. The timeline of the text gave them a rough idea of the hell that broke out in the city before they had begun to investigate. It wasn't pretty, to say the least.

_'These things...they're really the undead! Body cameras keep showing us dead people coming back to life! Please, hurry.'_ 9:52 PM (Ayaka)

_'It's gruesome. They rip into people's flesh without a care. I don't know how much more I can take watching throats being ripped out. These bloody, gray corpses are feral.'_ 10:10 PM (Ayaka)

_'The whole city is in chaos. We've sent out an alert for all civilians to come here for safety. Come on, come quickly!'_ 10:25 PM (Ayaka)

_'Zombies, I'll call them that. I just saw two of our officers being eaten alive. One had his guts ripped right out of his body and the other one was picked apart limb by limb.'_ 10:30 PM (Ayaka)

_'Get to higher ground, please!'_ 10:42 PM (Elias)

_'All of our dispatch officers are either dead or not responding. Communication has been cut off. We can't reach any other towns or cities, much less the military. More of our dispatch officers are falling. I don't know if I can handle anymore.'_ 11:00 PM (Ayaka)

_'Enter the sewers, Maybe you can get out from there.'_ 11:01 PM (Elias)

_'That's the thing. Even the sewers have been bombed to hell.'_ 11:02 PM (Ayaka)

_'All of our barricades around the city have collapsed. Fuyuki is in chaos! Flames are as high as I can see from the windows. Violence is erupting all across the city. We're surrounded now. Please, send help or something!'_ 11:15 PM (Ayaka)

_'Shit, some of our own have turned! We had to put them down. There's infighting between the civilians we have. Hurry up, goddammit!'_ 11:19 PM (Ayaka)

_'A lot of the roads have been heavily damaged and traffic is heavy. I see a military presence as well. I'll try to find a different route.'_ 11:22 PM (Elias)

_'I don't believe it. We've spotted vampires and a bunch of other monsters. This has to be a nightmare, right? Vampires! Body cam shows them sucking out blood. This is horrifying.'_ 11:40 PM (Ayaka)

_'Dead Apostles? Ghouls?'_ 11:40 PM (Elias)

_'No. More horrifying, I suppose.'_ 11:41 PM (Ayaka)

_'The power's been cut off. The whole city is in darkness except for the flames. I can't even turn on any of our backup generators. Where are you?'_ 12:05 AM (Ayaka)

_'The military blocked off Kammon Bridge. I had to move them aside. I don't know how long before I'll make it.'_ 12:16 AM (Elias)

_'They've reached us. They're breaking through our barricades. I hear the windows shattering and their screams. Some of our officers in the East Wing are down already and in need of backup. They're going to pick us off one by one.'_ 12:55 AM (Ayaka)

_'We've held off the first wave, but it won't be for long. Please, turn around. You'll only get yourself killed if you come here.'_ 1:38 AM (Ayaka)

_'Don't you say that, hold on!'_ 1:40 AM (Elias)

_'There's too many of them. Half of the station has already fallen and I can still hear the screams and gunfire. This is the end. At least we put up a good fight.'_ 2:32 AM (Ayaka)

There was one final text message. However, it hadn't been sent, likely due to the service having been cut off. It only made it all the more heartbreaking.

_'Love you, Pops. Save yourself, will you? Don't worry about me.'_ 2:40 AM (Ayaka)

Everyone was silent. Shock and sorrow etched on their features. Okita was right from before, Shirou thought. There had been a battle here, albeit it was unwinnable. It took a while for any of them to actually find the will to speak.

"So with this timeline of events, we know that something or someone cut Fuyuki off from the rest of the world and made sure no one escaped," Shirou stated grimly, "the police were overrun. The roads leading to Fuyuki have been damaged with and the military is blocking some of them...and there are probably more monsters for us to deal with."

"Sounds about right," Charles muttered.

"Uh...this Elias man," Lily remarked, "he seems to know something. He would have already arrived in this city, right?"

"Most likely," Charles nodded, "poor girl. At least she died fighting."

"Look!" Okita called, "I think I've found a map of the station!" They all looked at her, seeing the paper in her hand.

"Alright," Charles muttered, "so we've searched around this area. The second floor is mostly the higher-ups' offices. I don't think we're going to need to search the patrol and detective sectors with the timeline we've established."

"Believe me, we did check a few of the rooms and either they were in flames or completely covered in guts and blood," Shirou grimaced, "wait...look there. A forensics lab. Maybe we could find some answers if it hasn't been in disarray."

"We could split up," Charles stated, "actually, never mind. It's too dangerous."

"No, it's fine," Shirou agreed, "we'll cover more ground that way. You head to the forensics lab. Then check the holding cells, they're right next door."

"What about you?" Okita asked worriedly. Shirou smiled softly and patted her on the head.

"I'll be alone," Shirou stated, "I'll be able to take care of myself. I'll check upstairs and the interrogation rooms."

"You sure?" Charles asked skeptically.

"Of course," Shirou nodded, "don't use too much force when dealing with these things. If we're going by conventional zombie rules, they'll be attracted by any noise."

"Wonderful, as if I want to blow a hole in the wall separating me and undead Hirohito," Charles said sarcastically, "good luck, Kennedy. I'll make sure to take care of these two."

"We'll meet..." Shirou glanced at the map, "in the garage. Deal?" Charles pulled up his sleeve slightly to look at his watch. He handed the Ayaka's phone to Shirou so he could keep track of time.

"It's six in the morning, we'll meet up at seven when the sun rises," Charles stated, "don't die too early now."

* * *

Shirou supposed this shouldn't be so surprising. His life was a roller coaster of insanity after all. He was cautious as he walked up the stairs. He opted for one of his pistols rather than his rifle so he could have greater mobility.

The second floor was much like the first. It was in disarray and the walls were stained with blood and debris. However, he noticed there were fewer bodies. Strange, he supposed.

He entered the first room. The police chief's office. He looked around and opened up the drawers and cabinets in his desk.

"Damn, can't find anything," Shirou muttered, "oh, wait, my luck is amazing." He found a police radio. Frowning, he tweaked with it for a bit. Eventually, he found the audio clip during the events of the outbreak.

"*static* _Hello!? Come on, goddammit! Damn. Fucking Clock Tower must be the reason for this whole mess_!"

"What?" Shirou gasped. He tried to if there were any more audio clips, only to find none. However, he did find a letter on the chief's desk. It was addressed to an anonymous person, and it looked it had been forgotten or scrapped. The date on the paper was September 18, 2016.

'_Ever since that Grail War, the Clock Tower has been more persistent in interfering with Japan. With the Imperium and Russian Ministry both preoccupied with their own crises, I don't reckon we'll receive any help any time soon. Ever since that blasted Frederick Kennedy attacked Atlas Academy a year ago, the entire Association has been off their rocker._'

Shirou frowned. So the police chief was in cahoots with magi? Or was he also a magus himself? Shirou wanted to laugh sardonically. It looked like his little incident at Atlas Academy made him more famous than he should've been.

The Clock Tower, he knew, had always been embroiled in a power struggle between the magi elite of the Association. He found it strange that they would all agree to interfere in the affairs of Japanese magi.

Ever since the Grail War and the dismantlement of the Greater Grail, he assumed the stupid dipshits would've just left the country alone. He doubted the Association would interfere this badly and cause this mess, however.

The entirety of the Mage's Association would've been invaded and destroyed by the Imperium. His bosses and the government he worked for didn't take too kindly to magi just waltzing in and ruining their economic partners and potentially exposing magi to the rest of the world.

Perhaps it was a rogue magus? Unlikely, Shirou thought. They would've been executed on the spot by the time they stepped on Japan's borders. Ever since the Great War, the Imperium and the Russian Ministry kept a close eye on the country. To have a calamity like this was almost unthinkable under the Imperium's watch.

Finding nothing else, he began to leave. He suddenly aimed his gun at the door. He had something scuffle across the floor. The darkness of the room only elevated his fears. With a nervous gulp, he opened the door. Nothing. He noticed lightning outside the window. It had begun to rain. The flash of light from the lightning shined on his face.

"As if this place can't get any sketchier," Shirou muttered. He entered the deputy chief's office.

The window had been shattered, pouring in the wind and rain. He noticed a laptop on the deputy chief's desk. He hastily opened it, happy to find it had some battery life left. Shirou frowned and decided to open up the deputy chief's offline files.

"Password? Jesus fucking Christ," Shirou murmured. Even so, he managed to quickly override the laptop's mechanisms, using his training in computers years ago to good use. He had hacked the Pentagon before. This was nothing.

What he found surprised him. The deputy chief's reports were separate from the chief's. They were completely different in intent as well. Shirou couldn't believe his eyes.

Hundreds of files were on some massive investigation into the Japanese government. Files on dozens of corrupt officials from Fuyuki to the federal government in Tokyo.

However, it went further than that. There were files on not just the federal government. He gasped as he stared at the screen. There was info on various governments across the world.

Russia. Ukraine. Britain. China. Germany. Hell, there was even info on Israel. What disturbed him the most, however, was the file on none other than the Mage's Association and the Church. This was insane. It seemed as though this investigation was linking all of this into one big conspiracy. It was hard to take in. A worldwide conspiracy? The fuck?

Granted, he had only looked briefly at the top of each file. He'll need to look further into the files to see what they were truly about. He then noticed more files and his face paled. The files had information on the Imperium and other magi governments. He opened the desk drawer and found the deputy chief's badge and ID. He gasped.

The ID had the photo of a woman, likely in her thirties. Shirou couldn't help but say she was a beauty. She had long, brown hair and dark blue eyes. She didn't seem too happy, however.

He doubted she could've risen up this quickly, as her ID indicated she only joined the force in 2015. Her name was rather strange. Aoko Takahashi. In Japanese terms, her name literally meant 'Blue child, high bridge'.

But that's not what caused him to gasp. He knew her. He knew her personally from his past experiences before joining the Imperium. She was one of the CIA's top agents. A fucking CIA agent, one of America's top intelligence officers was in Japan as a police deputy chief.

What in the hell had she been doing in Japan for the past four years? On second thought, did that mean the American government knew about the Imperium and the supernatural world too?

Oddly enough...he found a note about him. Flattering. He didn't know whether to blush, look appalled, or just walk away when he discovered this woman had been spying on him.

'_June 17. 2014. That Frederick Kennedy is dangerous. Too dangerous. Research and observation have helped me conclude the man is not a regular magus. He doesn't use his Circuits. Rather...he doesn't really need mana at all. That isn't to say he's not a magus. He is...just not the one I am accustomed to. It seems that he draws his energy sources, not from mana, but something else entirely and he's a master of his craft. It seems to be a completely different system from the magecraft I know. I have a feeling that all of the members of the Imperium are capable too..._

_July 4, 2014. Frederick A. Kennedy is a rather charming man. I like him. A lot actually. A lot lot. Uh. Forget about that part. If it weren't for my time traveling fiascos, I supposed it would've been awkward for a 45-year-old me to be talking to him. Further observation confirmed my suspicions. He doesn't need the use of mana to perform magical feats. Strange. It seems the Imperium are on the same level as the MIB, or even more..._

_August 7, 2015. I have managed to confirm that the Imperium is full of these...should I still call them magi? They seem to be a different class of magical folk. I have decided to study and look into this new magical system._

_September 1, 2015. The man known as Frederick A. Kennedy has shaken the Clock Tower to their bones. The death toll of his actions is grave. Over 4000 lives were lost in one night because of him. I now understand why the Mage's Association and Church fear him so. He truly is Baba Yaga..._'

Shirou supposed he should feel flattered. She seemed admired and terrified of him. He sincerely hoped it was mostly the former. Why? He didn't know. He kinda wanted to meet this woman again.

"Wait...the fuck was that?" Shirou muttered has he heard more scuffling. He gulped nervously and closed the laptop, deciding to look at it further once he met up with Charles.

He hastily opened his vault and shoved the laptop inside before making it disappear. He held his gun up defensively, his ears trying to separate the rain and thunder outside from the noise in the room.

"Dandy," Shirou said dryly as he exited the room.

He heard more scuffling. Shirou hastily aimed his gun in the direction of the noise. Nothing. It was unsettling as he walked to the next room. They were the offices of the department chairs. All of the doors had been busted down, knocked off their hinges.

He turned around quickly only to find nothing behind him. There were no other sources of light except for his flashlight and the occasional glow of the lightning. Shirou felt as though eyes were on him, following his every move.

It was eerily silent except for the sound of rain drumming against the windows and the sound of thunder, as well as his own footsteps and his breathing. Then his breathing stopped for a second. He quickly aimed his gun at the ceiling, the sound of clacking echoing throughout the halls.

"Maybe I'm going a bit insane," Shirou said sheepishly. Sweat trickled down his face as he walked slowly and examined each room. His breathing was slow and ragged, while his heart was threatening to burst from his chest.

He could feel the blood pumping through his ears, and all of his hairs were sticking up as if he was in a perpetual state of goosebumps. Then...there was no denying it. He heard something scrape across the ceiling. A slow, heavy scrape that almost sounded like nails across a chalkboard.

He took a step. The wood creaked loudly, echoing off the walls. He suddenly felt something warm and wet touch his nose. He used his finger to wipe it. It was...red.

"...Blood?" Shirou murmured. Another droplet dripped down.

Dread grasped his throat, and he couldn't breathe as his head slowly turned upwards. He saw a grotesquely deformed hand. Then a mangled leg. Then a bloodied face. The body of a woman was impaled onto the ceiling. A noose had tied her bruised, bloodied neck to the roof. Knives were impaled in her hands, legs, shoulders, and through her head, sticking her to the ceiling.

She had been disemboweled, her intestines barely clinging on as they hung outside her body, the blood dripping like a leaky faucet. Her right eye had been ripped out. Her bones and joints were bent in inhuman ways.

Her body was so heavily mutilated he couldn't even make out her face. However...what he could make out was the slash across her face. It was new, he could see, the cut deep and sadistic.

Someone had carved a smile. Some sick bastard had carved a smile into her face. Parts of her skin and muscle were gone, revealing bone. Her jaw was slack and ajar, the skin around it gone as it was only being held up by a few ligaments and tendons.

"Oh my god," Shirou gasped as he stared in horror.

Then he noticed the large magical circle her body was on. It was drawn with her own blood. His eyes widened as he recognized the runes and symbols on each layer of the circle.

Suddenly, it cracked and sparked with energy. The entire magical circle glowed a demonic red, and the woman burst into purple flames. The entire ceiling was set aflame. The magical circle began to spin and Shirou knew he needed to run.

"Oh, for the love of-"

The entire second floor exploded in a blinding light, destroying half of the station and leaving Shirou Emiya's life unknown.

* * *

A/N: _If Shirou dies, I apologize. _

_Meanwhile, we are formally introduced to Charles Matsumoto, another version of Shirou. As stated, there is a stark contrast between the two counterparts, as one deals with the supernatural and the other deals with the extraterrestrial. The two, though sharing a similar backstory, their histories diverge once they reached the Great War._

_Speaking of which, the Great War will play a key factor in explaining why these two are so different, and as this is already an alternate history since the war occurred just two years after the Fifth Grail War in 2006, the world is different as well. We will be diving further into our counterparts' histories as the story progresses._

_The Imperium also has a factor in the story, has it plays a heavy influence on Shirou and other characters. Several characters from the Nasuverse are ever so present, albeit under different aliases. _

_As of now, our heroes are embroiled in the middle of the zombie outbreak in Fuyuki, cut off from the rest of the world and on their own. Next chapter will be looking at things from Charles's point of view. For those of you wondering if there will be more counterparts, of course, there will be._

_In fact, canon-Shirou should be making an appearance soon. Whether it be Fate, UBW, or Heaven's Feel is for you to guess. Till next time._


	4. Meeting An Old Face

Charles Whitman Matsumoto, formerly known as Shirou Emiya, lit a cigarette as he led the way through the station.

Underneath that fake cheeriness and sarcasm was pain. Okita could recognize it from anywhere. It was just like Shirou. She could see Charles had been through hell just from the deep anguish in his eyes. The Shirous of the multiverse seemed to have made suffering their favorite pastime.

Charles missed home. He missed his farm in Virginia. Alas, as a MIB agent, it was his duty to protect the world, whether it is his universe or not.

Charles had been through it all. He had faced a disastrous Grail War, went in direct conflict with the Mage's Association, faced mass murderers, imperialistic aliens, tackled potential universe-ending time distortions, and had fought in war after war.

Yet life always seemed to surprise him. As surprising as it was to find another version of him, he was more amused at the idea of a young Arturia.

He remembered Arturia vividly, and to see her younger self was shocking. Charles felt conflicted, however, seeing the innocence in her eyes made him wish none of this could've happened.

He grimaced as he remembered the Saber of his Holy Grail War. Such a stark contrast between her and Lily. Dark memories...he recalled that sword of pure darkness and power. The blade of a corrupted soul...

He seriously needed a drink after this if they all survived. Going from aliens to zombies is a bit too much. Returning to Japan after nearly two decades of vowing to never come back felt alien to him. Why is it that his return required a damn apocalypse to tag along with it?

"So...you're Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Kennedy is you?" Lily asked with curiosity.

"Sounds about right," Charles sighed.

"Did you take after your father's name too?" Lily asked even more.

"Nah, my pop's name was Fredrik Bergman," Charles explained, "I'm half Norwegian. It seems Kennedy is half Irish. We both have Japanese blood in us, though."

"I see," Lily murmured, "is it hard being a MIB agent?"

"Of course it is, our mission is to protect the world after all," Charles smiled gently, "all MIB agents swear an oath to protect humanity...let me guess. You'd like to be king?"

"I-I don't think a king would do much in this world," Lily admitted.

"No...I suppose it wouldn't," Charles agreed, "you're mortal now. I doubt there's any chance of you going back to pre-Anglo-Saxon Britain, not to mention most of the world has a thing called democracy."

"I see..."

"It doesn't mean anything, to be honest," Charles stated reassuringly, "while you may not be king, you can still help others. If we figure this whole zombie thing out, who knows? Maybe you could put saving the world on your resume."

"Really?" Lily asked brightly.

"Aye, that would be a legendary feat not even the original King Arthur had done," Charles said triumphantly, "don't ya worry. We Americans are known for helping others."

That was a lie, of course. History showed that America had a habit of sticking her nose in places where she shouldn't have, regardless of whether or not it was a good thing.

Even so, he was pleased to find her not so downtrodden anymore. He smiled gently as her mood was lifted. She reminded him of his own children somehow, too much, actually, the innocence and vibrancy within those eyes. It gave a familiar warm feeling...as well as one full of pain. He hoped that brightness in her soul wouldn't dampen so fast.

He suddenly recalled that Arturia stopped aging when she pulled out Caliburn. _Holy shiteballs! She's only fifteen goddammit!_ Charles thought. It seemed she would begin to age like a normal human being. That would pose a problem as his fatherly instincts started to kick in.

Then he saw Okita. She was a quiet one, he noted. Perhaps the fact she woke up to a zombified world and nearly had her face chomped off traumatized her more than he thought? Or was she just naturally silent? She was too serious! Maybe that's why she was the perfect companion for his counterpart. They're both depressing.

The station was rather quiet as they walked towards the lab. When he and Lily had broken through, it was crawling with the undead. Now...silence. Charles's senses were on high alert as they ventured deeper into the station, as he could never know when danger would strike. His hands gripped tighter around his rifle.

"You hear that?" Charles stopped them.

"Hear what?" Okita asked.

Charles frowned as he remembered. They weren't MIB agents. None of them had enhanced hearing or superhuman sight. Even so, he heard slight scraping underneath the wooden floor.

"Just be on high alert," Charles said darkly.

Even though they couldn't hear or see like Charles, Okita and Lily felt an overwhelming dread, as if someone was keeping an eye on them. That feeling only got worse as they kept walking.

"It's a bit chilly, isn't it?" Lily shivered.

"I thought this was the summer?" Okita muttered, rubbing her arms slightly.

Charles agreed. For a day in the middle of the summer, the temperature seemed to have dropped considerably. He swore he could see his own breath! He jumped back in shock at the sight of it.

"OOOOH MY GOOOOD!" Charles yelled dramatically.

"Mr. Matsumoto, be quiet, please!" Lily said frantically.

Charles then heard scratching up in the ceiling. It was loud, loud enough for both Okita and Lily to hear it as well. They aimed their guns at the ceiling, wondering where the source of the noise was. They found none. He scowled and adjusted the bayonet on his rifle. They continued and walked towards the lab, where they eventually entered through the shattered glass doors.

Just like the rest of the station, the entire place was in ruin. He frowned as he glanced at the lab tables. His flashlight shined over cracked computer monitors and walls splattered with blood.

He heard a heavy groan. He turned his head to see a zombie ripping into the body of what seemed to be a lab assistant. He aimed his rifle and fired into the zombie's head.

"Check the entire lab," Charles ordered, "I'd hate to suddenly be attacked by one."

The three of them separated. Okita really hated this. She was no longer a Servant, which made everything a lot more difficult. Though, she no longer had a sickly ailment, so that was a plus.

She heard a rustle behind one of the closets. The closet door burst open and she found herself dropping her gun, having to hold back a zombie. Damn, these things had strength!

The decaying corpse, with only a few sinews and muscles keeping its jaw together, snapped at Okita. She managed to push it off and quickly unsheathed her sword, viciously decapitating the undead. She breathed heavily as she picked up her rifle, her heart curiously pounding in her chest.

"You alright over there?" Charles asked, a look of concern on his face.

"I'm fine!" Okita replied sheepishly. She really, really, _really_ hated these bastards. Why couldn't it be simpler? Why couldn't it be some evil mystical wizards or something, not zombies!

She then noticed a few bloodstained photographs on one of the countertops. Curious, she walked over to examine them.

"Hey! I found something!" Okita yelled. The two quickly ran over.

"Christ, you have a habit of finding things," Charles remarked. He glanced at the photos. "They're MRI's. Let me see. Likely sent from a hospital around here." He examined them closely. "You see that?"

"Is that the brain?" Lily asked in curiosity. Charles nodded. The two girls were rather amazed. Human technology was incredible!

"The parietal and frontal lobe has deteriorated, so has the cerebellum," Charles explained, "that would expect why they're so mindless and their motor skills are limited..."

"What about this other photograph?" Lily asked.

"Must be the vampiric bastards," Charles grimaced, "look, their bones seemed to have increased in density. They're more resilient to pain it seems and can take more damage."

Charles didn't like the sound of this. A virus that was capable of controlling the human body? Imagined if it was used as a weapon of war! The horrors that would be unleashed were unfathomable.

"This note is in English...I think," Okita stated as she handed him a messy note. It had been ripped out of a notebook. However, Charles was pleasantly surprised to find no blood or anything of the matter on the note.

Charles glanced at the handwriting. Righty, he noted, albeit the handwriting was in cursive, and it seemed to be messy, indicating he or she did it in a haste. He also noticed a name down at the bottom of the note. Aoko Takahashi. That name sounded familiar...

He pulled out a strange silver device from his pocket. The two Servants looked on in awe as the device shone a green light over the note as if he were scanning it. He began to read from the screen on his device.

"Alright..." Charles murmured, "the note is a list of symptoms. Apparently, this goes for both zombie and vampire."

"So it must mean they both originate from the same virus, right?" Lily asked.

"Aren't you clever?" Charles chuckled, "the patient is afflicted with extremely high fevers and potential hemorrhage. Fatigue, dehydration, nausea and vomiting."

"And it gets worse?" Okita asked. She looked somewhat queasy. Charles sheepishly nodded.

"Sensitivity to light, muscle spasms, severe aggression and hallucinations, and even malaise," Charles read, "congestion, chills, swollen lymph nodes...Jesus fucking Christ, it seems like rabies, except combined with Ebola, Marburg, and influenza..."

"Is...is that normal?" Okita asked.

"Sweet mother of sin, of course not," Charles grimaced, "the skin turns gray as the body dies...but then this is where it deviates. For our zombified folks, they collapse dead and their body deteriorates faster than a normal body would, which is why we see them like so."

"Then they get back up again..." Okita murmured.

"Just as I said before, between 3-9 minutes, but it seems it could also take hours," Charles sighed darkly, "OOOOH MY GOOOD. Son of a bitch!" He noticed Lily's and Okita's looks and smiled sheepishly.

"What is it?" Lily asked after sighing in exasperation.

"The brain restarts," Charles said dryly, "parts of it, anyways. It seems to force the body to keep with adrenaline. That could explain the odd strength for a decaying body. Oh no...I knew it was too good to be true..." He turned towards them with a sad look. "The zombies aren't actually dead. It's impossible to revive the dead through natural means."

"Wait...does that mean-"

"They're alive," Charles said grimly, "we thought of them as the undead due to how they move and act, but it's instead in a constant state of decay. They might as well be fucking dead anyways...their heart doesn't beat nor do their lungs rise and fall. Yet they're alive...they've lost all of their humanity. They're in a constant state of necrosis and decay. They're only shells, controlled by the virus as a meat-suit."

A heavy silence rang through the room. Lily looked beyond terrified, so did Okita. It was one thing to be dead, but to be alive and used as a damn bodysuit for some virus? Okita felt as if she wanted to faint.

"Don't feel conflicted," Charles said softly, "killing them is a mercy at this point, as messed up as it sounds. Well, if their hearts are no longer functioning, I suppose they're just like a virus. Dead, but not dead. Alive, but not alive. An anomaly."

"How does it become a vampire then?" Lily asked fearfully, "those are terrifying."

"Hmm...they get revived," Charles said grimly, "albeit they're feral because of the damage done by the virus. However, it seems as though they begin to regenerate. Perhaps that's why they slowly regain their intelligence, or at least from these notes a fraction of it."

"Unfortunately with a habit of sucking blood," Okita muttered. Charles gave her a headpat to lighten up her mood. He concluded her sudden beet-red face was a good sign.

"This poses a problem," Charles said darkly, "we have one variant where it turns humans into mindless ghouls...and the other variant turns them into blood-sucking killers."

Charles tucked away the papers in his sack. He gestured for the two Ser-...now that he thought about it, he hated the word Servant. They were human now, after all, it was best to call them as such. They walked over to the lab counter where some of the microscopes were.

"Good, they don't require electricity except for a light," Charles said happily. He pulled out a tiny light from his pocket and placed it on top of the microscope's dead light. After a minute of random shenanigans, he looked through the microscope lenses, examining the blood sample he took and showed the others earlier.

He didn't like the look of it. It acted like any other virus, hijacking a cell and causing it to die by mass producing new copies of the virus. It held an eerily similar appearance to the Marburg virus, and Charles noticed that the virus seemed to outnumber any other biological entities within the blood sample. He then examined the water sample from earlier, and he was surprised at what he found.

"Hmm..." Charles brooded, "the virus seems to be dead in the water."

"Dead?" Okita asked in confusion, "but you said it was spread by the water supply."

"I know that and I can wholeheartedly confirm such a thing, but the virus is for certain dead," Charles nodded, "this virus is too strange to be figured out by what limited resources we have. We'll have to save a sample for the CDC or the World Health Organization. It's about time we get out of here."

As he gathered their newfound evidence, he heard it again. That damn scraping. This time the scraping came from beneath the floors. He also heard faint scratches, the sound of which nearly made his skin crawl, and he hurriedly got Okita and Lily out of the lab. Looking at the map again, they continued to move towards the holding cells.

The floors creaked slightly with every step they took. The sound of the howling wind and rain was heard as they passed by the windows. Lily looked out the windows, seeing the flames fighting to stay alive despite the heavy rain. Thunder boomed in the air, lightning ripping through the sky as zombies wandered in the streets outside the station.

They soon entered the hallway of the holding cells. It was a long, narrow hallway, the lights having been shattered, leaving glass shards on the floor. It seemed more like a prison rather than an area to hold people for a small period of time.

Every cell had its door busted wide open. Okita, even after hours of dealing with zombies and corpses, the stench of rotting bodies made her want to gag. They continued to walk through the long hallway. It seemed most of the zombies had already been killed prior to their arrival.

They finally reached the end, and to their surprise, found one man in his cell eating a meal. His cell was only lit by a single candle, and he seemed to be eating a chicken alfredo dinner from what Charles recognized as an MRE. He glanced at Lily.

"Your next line will be, '_can we trust him_?'," Charles stated.

"Can we trust him?" Lily asked worriedly. Her look of shock was humorous as she noticed she did exactly what Charles said she'd do. He's a magician! Okita, on the other hand, only facepalmed.

"Hmm...I'm not certain, but stay behind me and keep your distance," Charles said firmly.

It was an odd sight to see, for the man seemed calm and unfazed. The light of the candle made the man look slightly scary, as they could all see the deep shadows etched on his face. The man had messy brown hair as if he hadn't combed it in days, a neat ducktail beard, and navy blue eyes. He was in his late thirties and Charles could roughly estimate his height to be around six feet.

He paused in the middle of lifting his fork, a piece of chicken on it, noticing the trio. He dusted off his black suit, cracking his neck before he got up and slowly walked over. He had a look of relief, perhaps they were the first humans he'd seen in days. He eyed them intensely as if making sure they were actually real people.

"Huh...humans, right?" The man asked. Okita nodded.

"That is correct, sir," Lily said sheepishly. The man nodded in understanding. Okita noticed Lily had straightened her posture as if to make herself look taller and more serious. It was cute, in a way.

She then noticed Charles's look of disbelief. The redhead felt his jaw open wider than it should, and he abruptly snapped it shut. He gulped nervously. He was utterly dumbfounded. He couldn't believe a face he hadn't seen in 22 years had reemerged.

"Lancer?" Charles gasped in shock. The man looked at Charles and his eyes widened in surprise, a sign of recognition in his eyes. "Cú fucking Chulainn. How are you...how are you here?"

"Emiya," Cú said in surprise, "so my suspicions were correct. You do exist in this world. Such a strange anomaly...so the continuum is indeed out of sync..."

"Hold the fuck up, when did you pass a fifth-grade reading level?" Charles questioned, garnering a deadpan look from the Irishman. "Secondly, what happened to your hair?"

"Reincarnation is a tricky thing, Emiya, perhaps you should look up on that," Cú said sarcastically.

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Sounding smart. You're supposed to be a battle-nut idiot."

"Oh, fuck you."

"Sir, do you know him well?" Okita asked skeptically. Three seconds in and the two were already arguing. Did they have some history?

"Yes...the cunt stabbed me in the chest," Charles said dryly. Cú Chulainn looked highly offended.

"I was under orders, jackass!" Cú argued, "you try fighting against a Command Spell!"

"It just shows you're weak-willed, douchebag," Charles retorted.

"So he is a Servant?" Lily asked curiously, "it seems like you fought in a Grail War, Mr. Matsumoto."

"Matsumoto?" Cú murmured, "you changed your name?"

"Charles, Charles Matsumoto at your service," Charles sighed, "girls, this is Cú Chulainn. Irish bastard of the West."

"I only stabbed you in the chest once," Cú deadpanned.

"You tried to do it a second and third time," Charles stuck his tongue out.

Charles then frowned. He couldn't read souls, but it didn't seem like this Cú Chulainn was a Heroic Spirit. With the appearance of Okita and Lily, he supposed he shouldn't as surprised. Cú seemed to be flesh and blood and he said something about reincarnation. That would explain the odd change in personality, but...

"Not anymore," Cú sighed wearily, "my time as a Heroic Spirit was over years ago."

Strange. Charles glanced at Okita and Lily. The Throne of Heroes was separated from the space-time continuum, he recalled. However, any distortion in the fabric of the universe affected all levels of reality. His eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.

"How? The Throne of Heroes doesn't allow reincarnation," Okita stated. Cú had a wry smile plastered on his face.

"Well, I assume you're a former Heroic Spirit?" Cú asked, "so is the mini Saber over there?" They all nodded. "Hmm...well, Emiya...now that I think about it, you're not from this world, aren't you?"

"How'd you know?"

"I'm a genius."

"Back on point, please," Okita said in exasperation.

"Yeah, like she said, dipshit," Charles nodded, "how are you here?"

"Us Heroic Spirits have been getting ripped out of the Throne of Heroes," Cú explained, "I've been reborn as a human."

"Oh, you must miss your Gay Bulge," Charles sighed mockingly.

"HEY!"

"Back on point, please," Okita said again.

"I've been reborn, but it seems you two just arrived, am I correct?" Cú asked, to which Lily and Okita nodded. "A strange anomaly, I suppose. And you, Emiya? Why are you here? Misplaced into this world by some distortion in the multiverse?"

His arrival in this universe already meant there was a distortion in the space-time continuum, for Charles knew the difficulties of crossing universes. Time travel was a feat in its own, but universe-hopping was near damn impossible. Could Lily and Okita's arrival mean there had been a distortion in the fabric of reality? Cú had been reborn as a human. Why? Why were Heroic Spirits being reborn or turned into mortals? Were there more? Charles pondered these questions quickly. If Heroic Spirits were reappearing as humans, could that mean he'd possibly see...Saber again?

Then he thought about himself. His counterpart...Frederick Kennedy. It seemed as though they indeed went through the trials, more or less, before their lives diverged after the Great War. Charles was older, as he was from the future. Indeed there were slight changes, whether it be age, birthday, or history...but without a doubt, they were both Shirou Emiya.

He brooded. He hadn't felt this troubled since he discovered his biological parents and what had happened to them. That begged the question. If he and Kennedy were now here...how many other Shirou Emiyas had appeared in this universe?

"Aren't you clever?" Charles muttered, "and why is a former Heroic Spirit in a holding cell in the middle of Japan?" Cú frowned, contemplating his answer for a moment.

"I suppose it wouldn't do much to keep secrets if we might all die anyway," Cú sighed, "you're investigating this outbreak as well, correct?"

"Unfortunately," Okita grimaced.

"I was sent to Japan as a spy," Cú stated, "ever since the Great War, all eyes have been on Asia. Europe and America call it a precaution. I call it imperialism."

"And which spy are you?" Charles questioned, "actually...you aren't an Englishman, are you?"

Cú looked livid. As he was Irish, he wasn't easily going to forgive the English for centuries of injustice inflicted upon his ancestors!

"Hell no! I was born in Kansas, dipshit," Cú said with annoyance, "my name is Pyotr McCarthy. I'm half-Irish, half-Russian in this lifetime."

"Pyotr McCarthy...speak English," Charles said firmly.

"Hold on, what?" Cú questioned.

Charles suddenly spoke English instead of Japanese, surprising them all. It felt strange, they all supposed. Charles had the accent of a Southerner alright, due to his years of living in Virginia, but even with the pleasantry of a Southern accent, he still managed to sound insane.

"What country you from!?" Charles questioned. Cú blinked in surprise.

"Wait, what?" Cú replied in shock.

"ENGLISH MOTHERFUCKER, DO YOU SPEAK IT?" Charles bellowed. Okita wanted to facepalm. Then she saw Lily. Now she wanted to cover the poor blonde's ears.

"W-What?" Cú sputtered.

"DO THEY SPEAK ENGLISH IN WHAT!?" Charles questioned. Just as Cú was about to open his mouth, Charles aimed his rifle. "SAY WHAT AGAIN. SAY. WHAT. AGAIN. I DARE YOU MOTHERFUCKER, I DOUBLE DARE YOU MOTHERFUCKER, SAY WHAT AGAIN!"

"Mr. Matsumoto!" Okita yelled in exasperation. Charles quickly recomposed himself, coughing slightly. He acted as though nothing happened.

"Yare yare daze, I was having a moment," Charles sighed.

"Did...did you just make a fucking Jojo's reference?" Cú questioned, this time his voice was indeed English, and a matter-of-fact American accent was heard.

"Uh...no."

"Yes, yes you did, dipshit."

"Back on point please, for the love of God!" Okita groaned in annoyance. The two men coughed sheepishly.

"So...since you're an American...CIA, I'm assuming?" Charles asked.

The two men decided to still speak English, much to the annoyance of Okita and Lily. Okita, because she was Japanese. Lily, since the English language didn't even exist in her time period, in fact, it only arrived years after she had died, and their arrival in this universe didn't come with the Throne of Heroes giving them any basic knowledge.

"Correct, Emiya...and you're MIB, aren't you?" Cú stated, "I recognize those eyes anywhere."

Okita and Lily frowned in confusion. They followed Cú's line of sight, which were directed at Charles's rather dreamy eyes. They shook themselves out of it. Okita had pledged her allegiance to Shirou, she reminded herself.

They glanced at Charles and gasped in surprise. His eyes had changed color to a light blue. They seemed to hold some sort of power to them, and Lily nearly jumped back as the right eye flickered with a blood red for a brief second.

"Aye, indeed I am," Charles nodded, "became one after the Great War."

"Hmm...knowing the Americans...they recruited you during the Great War, am I right?" Cú asked, "and please don't tell me you became an airman."

"The fact you even suggested I'd join the Air Force is an insult," Charles deadpanned, "Semper Fi."

"Semper Fi..." Cú nodded in respect, "I was in the Army. Damn slanted-eye bastards dragged that war on for too long. Then we had those fucking commies pick a fight with us..."

The Great War. He supposed his counterpart was the same when it came to the Great War. Nearly six years of non-stop fighting. He vaguely wondered if Archer had ever fought a war. Probably not. That Counter Guardian likely would've given up on his ideals before he even became a Counter Guardian. Charles grimaced at the mention of the Great War.

Cú gave him a look, and the two nodded in mutual understanding, an understanding only seen between veterans of that war. The hidden pain and torment of years of conflict could be seen in both of their eyes if looked closely enough. Okita noticed it. She saw hell in those eyes. Just one look and she saw that Charles was a man slowly breaking apart, yet at the same time slowly trying to put things back together.

"I agree...but back on point," Charles stated, "why are you here investigating?"

"The Americans have been investigating...a conspiracy of sorts," Cú grimaced, "the entire intelligence community has been going against Congress and the White House."

"They would call that treason," Charles said in shock. What sort of conspiracy would be so bad that the entire American intelligence community would revolt?

"In their eyes, yes," Cú said grimly, "but everyone...from the FBI to the NSA. We're looking into corruption. Usually, this isn't the CIA's role, but-"

"You have reason to believe that America is corroborating with enemy forces," Charles said darkly, "whether it be human or not. It's already a direct threat to national security."

"Unfortunately," Cú grimaced, "and I have no explanation for why Heroic Spirits are being reborn or showing up without their powers either, even though that question has been the bane of my existence in my 37 years of living. As for this outbreak, I honestly have no clue. I locked myself up in here to avoid getting zombified."

"Now you want to get out?" Charles asked.

"Of course," Cú said dryly, "I have been able to collect some evidence." He walked over to his desk and showed Charles a few folders and an audio player. "I have a proposal. You help me and I'll help you."

"And what will the Americans say if they find out about the CIA's betrayal?" Charles asked.

'Who knows?" Cú shrugged. Charles frowned before his handgun was pointed at the lock. An explosion suddenly rocked the entire station, shaking the entirety of the building.

Charles suddenly heard a crack and his face visibly paled.

"Lily! Okita! Move!" Charles reached to them, switching back to Japanese.

They had looks of confusion on their faces, which soon turned to ones of horror as the floor cracked and collapsed. Charles dropped his handgun as he dove forward and he managed to grab Okita's arm. Okita managed to hastily hold onto Lily's arm, the latter screaming in terror as she saw they were just meters away from a hole full of zombies.

Cú, keeping his calm, rammed his evidence into a backpack he had in the corner, and after putting it on he opened a cabinet on his desk and pulled out the cell keys.

"Come on, come on!" Cú muttered under his breath, trying to pick the right key into the keyhole. Charles managed to pull the two up, Okita helping by using her feet to push off of the hole's sides. A sudden hand burst through the wall behind Cú, breaking through the brick as if it were cardboard. It was dark gray in color, and its nails seemed to resemble claws...

"Got it!" Cú said in triumph, before pulling out his Glock 34 pistol and firing twice at the hand. He heard a feral shriek and the hand retracted. He opened the cell door and found the trio with their guns held up down the hallway.

"They weren't here before!" Lily stated. Zombies had begun to fill in, their feral groans clear as they as they charged towards them.

Charles sighed, putting his rifle away. Close-quarters it is. He pulled out his own Beretta M9 pistol and began to aim and fire at the zombies' heads.

As gunfire ripped through the zombies' bodies, Charles yelled for them to follow him as they began to break through the zombie hoard. Charles noticed the fighting style Cú had. Indeed, he concluded Cú must've been a part of the CIA's Paramilitary Operations or U.S. Special Forces, as the Irishman fought with a style Charles usually saw in special ops.

Charles dodged a zombie trying to grab onto him, firing into its head. He swiftly fired into the head of a zombie just behind Lily, before crouching down and tripping another zombie, firing into its head. He knocked another zombie over, viciously stomping on the back of its neck before he fired at another zombie square between the eyes.

He struck joints and weak points every time he felt a hand grab or reach him, firing his gun as quickly as he could into every zombie's head. Lily and Okita managed to hold their own, whether it be firing their weapon or managing to decapitate a zombie with their sword.

A zombie tackled Okita down, but Lily managed to run over and kick the feral undead off of her. Lily hastily pulled the swordsman up, and they felt a bullet whizz between their faces, striking a zombie behind them.

"Watch yourselves," Cú stated.

After several minutes, they managed to break through the hoard, clearing every zombie out. As they reached the main lobby, all four of them were in shock. The station was slowly being engulfed in flames. Fire and smoke reached as high as the ceiling, and they knew it wasn't long before the whole place came crashing down.

"Mr. Kennedy!?" Lily called out, "Mr. Kennedy, are you there?"

"No...was he caught in the explosion?" Okita wondered fearfully.

Charles had a grim look on his face. Someone knew they were here. Someone was out to get them. Perhaps there was a conspiracy as Cú said. Whoever was involved clearly didn't want them to figure things out.

"I can trust you not to kill us, right?" Charles asked the Irishman, his voice switching back to English.

"Does it look like I'm under a Command Spell?" Cú deadpanned. Charles charged into the fray, running towards the stairs. "Hey! You idiot!"

Flumes of flames erupted from the floor, preventing Cú from reaching him.

"Head towards the garage!" Charles yelled, "I'll meet you there! Lily has the map! Don't worry, I have a plan!"

"I don't like your plan!" Cú yelled back.

"Fuck you! We're going with my plan!" Charles retorted, just as an explosion ripped through the hallway on the other side of the room. "Holy fucking shit...keep them safe! I'm off to find my counterpart!"

"Wait, you fucking idiot!" Cú shouted angrily.

Charles ran up the stairs, the flames growing larger and hotter as he went up. The ceiling suddenly collapsed, separating the two for good. Cú wanted to facepalm. Even in another lifetime, he still had to meet the Emiya...

"Well," Cú turned towards the girls, "lead the way. I'd hate to keep the bastard waiting."

* * *

_A/N: The mystery continues. As seen with Cú, now known as Pyotr McCarthy in this lifetime, some Heroic Spirits are being thrown out of the Throne of Heroes and are either being turned mortal like Okita and Lily or are being reincarnated as humans. That leaves the possibility of old and familiar faces returning to the fray._

_Next chapter, the escape from Fuyuki's Police Station._


End file.
